3 Bad habits the New York Knicks have to avoid

New York Knicks: Playing to the Level of their competition

This is something that the Knicks have done for many years.  This year has been the epitome of playing to the level of competition.

It feels like every Knicks game this season is a close game, win or lose.  The 7-6 Knicks have the second-lowest margin of victory out of all teams, with a positive margin of victory at 0.46.

The Knicks, even when they are the much more talented team, seem to play just to the level of their competition.  This is forcing unnecessarily close games that sometimes the Knicks let slip, including a terribly ugly loss to the Orlando Magic earlier this year.

Though it can be fun for us fans to watch close games, we all are starting to feel like we need a break.  Imagine how the players feel.

It is super stressful to play close games, and you exert far more energy.  This goes back to Thibs’ tendency to burn players out by the playoffs, as though Thibodeau is not at fault, he should emphasize that close games can go either way.

Playing the majority of 82 games where it comes down to one possession, changing the game is not how you formulate a top-4 seed record.  If the Knicks want to be a top-4 seed again, they need to create separation between them and the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.