This current New York Knicks core has nothing if not a habit for reaching franchise milestones. And now, they have the opportunity to hit a pretty significant one: racking up 50-plus victories in three straight seasons for the first time in almost 30 years.
From making the team’s first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000 to Jalen Brunson becoming the first player to make consecutive All-NBA First or Second teams since Patrick Ewing, the present-day Knicks are both benchmark-breakers and perception-changers. Failing a curveball of epic proportions, this isn’t going to change next season.
New York has not enjoyed its current 50-win streak since the halcyon days of the 1990s, when it rattled off that many victories four times, from 1991-92 through 1994-95. The fact that the Knicks are working off even back-to-back 50-win campaigns is significant. But reaching that milestone for three straight years is ultra-dfificult—and, frankly, something most believe they’ll do.
Everyone is penciling in the Knicks for 50-plus victories again
Anyone dropping win projections has the Knicks clearing the 50-win mark for a third straight year. There isn’t a single over/under set below 50.5. On the contrary, most have them hovering between 52.5 and 55.5.
These forecasts are ambitious. They’re also spot-on when looking at the Eastern Conference landscape.
Both the Boston Celtics (Jayson Tatum) and Indiana Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton) will be without their most important players for the entire 2025-26 season. The Philadelphia 76ers could be great if they stay healthy, but that’s a gargantuan-sized if. There are scenarios in which the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, and Orlando Magic spit out 50 wins. The Knicks are more of a known commodity than all of them.
Really, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the sole team with potentially more 50-plus-win equity than New York. And there are still plenty of people who think the Knicks will win the East anyway.
This Knicks team is flawed, but still special
Fans cannot take this window, or the opportunities that arise within it, for granted.
It wasn’t too long ago that the organization was among the NBA’s biggest laughingstocks. New York won fewer than 30 games in six consecutive seasons, between 2014 and 2020. But the ship has since been righted in a huge way.
Only five teams have a higher winning percentage over the past three years than these Knicks. Three of these squads account for all of the Association’s titles during this span: The Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
This is the company alongside which the Knicks are now mentioned: contenders, title favorites, and juggernauts. Next season will provide the chance for them to prove they’re something more—sustainably great.