During their current postseason jaunt, the New York Knicks have seized ownership of the NBA’s most-lopsided playoff stretches spanning from three games all the way up to 10. They have been so dominant, in fact, they can set the record through 11 games once the Eastern Conference finals begin—even if they open up with a loss.
New York has outscored opponents over the last 10 outings by a total of 194 points. The 11-game record is held by the 2017 Kevin Durant-era Golden State Warriors, who were plus-190 during that stretch.
As Dan Feldman writes for Dunc’d On Prime, just in case you have no desire to do any math: “For the Knicks to have the top 11-game span, they must fare better than a five-point LOSS in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.”
Have we come up with a slogan for this pesky, favored-to-reach-the-Finals Knicks squad? If not, the tagline “So dominant they can shatter dynastic records without even winning” is a little verbose but hits incredibly hard.
This latest Knicks stretch is absolutely absurd
Massive point differentials don't engender as many responses of the jaw-dropping or mind-melting variety as they once did. Pace, space, three-point volume, and all that jazz.
Still, the Knicks’ progression toward their all-time status is staggering to look at:
The roll continues. pic.twitter.com/AmVj0k5xtT
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 10, 2026
This isn’t just an aesthetics thing. Having control of so many most-lopsided honors is actually insane.
Look at how many different teams held the record before these Knicks went kaboom:
- 3-game point differential: 2025 Cleveland Cavaliers (plus-101)
- 4-game point differential: 2025 Cavaliers (plus-122)
- 5-game point differential: 2009 Denver Nuggets (plus-121)
- 6-game point differential: 2009 Nuggets (plus-135)
- 7-game point differential: 2009 Nuggets (plus-147)
- 8-game point differential: 1985 Los Angeles Lakers (plus-152)
- 9-game point differential: 2017 Cavaliers (plus-161)
- 10-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus-171)
Five separate squads previously owned these eight pieces of history. Now, they all belong to the Knicks.
Which raises an interesting question: Just how far can New York ride this wave?
The Knicks have a chance to make a mockery of lopsided greatness
We know the Knicks must lose by no more than five points in Game 1 to extend their hold to 11 games. But the Eastern Conference Finals could also be the vehicle through which they push it to 12, 13, or more.
Let’s run through the next seven most-lopsided spans:
- 11-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus-190)
- 12-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus-206)
- 13-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus-225)
- 14-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus -237)
- 15-game point differential: 2017 Warriors (plus-242)
- 16-game point differential: 1971 Milwaukee Bucks (plus-246)
- 17-game point differential: 1971 Bucks (plus-245)
Pushing this streak to 12 games feels eminently reasonable. It entails edging out the Cleveland Cavaliers or Detroit Pistons by a total of 15 points over the next two games.
Going any further, to 13 games and beyond, is a tall order. Even if the Knicks aren’t afraid of the Cavs (spoiler alert: they shouldn’t be) or the Pistons (debatable), they must increase their point differential by 31 points over the next three tilts. Sure, that’s one blowout’s worth of points by this team’s benchmark. But massive margins of victory aren’t standard in the conference finals
Then again, the Knicks keep showing us over and over again that they’re anything but standard. You don’t play like a juggernaut across 10 playoff games by accident. You do so because you are a juggernaut, or at the very least might be a juggernaut. And because these Knicks either are or might be a juggernaut relative to the rest of the East, anything’s possible.
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