Knicks: Playoff Chances and Second Half Schedule Preview

The NY Knicks’ second-half schedule is a bit of a doozy.

In his post-game press conferences, head coach Tom Thibodeau often talks about a tough second half of the season for the team – but just how tough is it? Where does it rank in relation to other playoff aspirants?

Well, per Tankathon, New York has the 5th toughest remaining schedule in the entire league – yikes.

Of their remaining 35 games, 15 of them will come against the current top 6 ranked teams from either conference and 25 games will be against teams ranked in the top 10.

• Note: teams ranked from 6th to 10th this season will enter a play-in tournament which will decide the eventual 7th and 8th seeds for the playoffs – which is why I have included them in this statistic.

All in all, that’s a tough ask for any team and the Knicks will have a fight on their hands if they are to make it to the post-season. It’ll be all the more impressive if they do make it given the caliber of opposition they are scheduled to face over the second half.

So, that’s the Knicks schedule, how does it compare to the other Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls?

For starters, it’s probably safe to assume the top three teams in the East – Philly, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee – so I have excluded them from the below list. I have also included Atlanta, as they’re still in the mix despite being 11th. Again, schedule rankings are from our friends at Tankathon.

4th – Boston Celtics (19-17) – 18th Hardest Schedule

5th – New York Knicks (19-18) – 5th Hardest Schedule

6th – Miami Heat (18-18) – 27th Hardest Schedule

7th – Charlotte Hornets (17-18) – 14th Hardest Schedule

8th – Toronto Raptors (17-19) – 8th Hardest Schedule

9th – Chicago Bulls (16-18) – 6th Hardest Schedule

10th – Indiana Pacers (16-19) – 15th Hardest Schedule

11th – Atlanta Hawks (16-10) – 22nd Hardest Schedule

As we can see above, the Knicks are faced with the toughest remaining schedule out of the Eastern Conference teams that are fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

Let’s assume that Boston (currently 4th) and Miami (currently 6th), with some of the easiest schedules, are locks for the 4th and 5th seeds. That leaves New York to fight it out for the 6th and last guaranteed playoff spot against the likes of Charlotte, Toronto, Chicago, and even Atlanta (their second-half schedule is rather friendly).

• again, teams ranked 7th to 10th will enter a play-in tournament to determine the final playoff spots.

Chicago, with the 6th toughest remaining schedule in the league, and the Hawks (with their current record and an interim head-coach), appear to be the teams most in danger of missing the play-in tournament altogether. But the NBA is an unpredictable league, and it will be interesting to see how this playoff race unfolds as the season goes on.

With the strength of schedule dissected, let us turn our eye onto the key games and stretches to look out for in the second half of the year: