After their Thursday night walloping at the hands of the Detroit Pistons, the New York Knicks have now been swept by the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed for a second consecutive season. The discourse that follows them into the playoffs will be accordingly skeptical, if not outright dismissive, and hauntingly familiar to fans.
The Knicks posted an 0-4 record against the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers in 2024-25. They are now 0-3 versus the Pistons, who they won’t play again unless the two sides meet in the playoffs.Â
Certain fans can—and should!—be quick to point out that the regular season isn’t the playoffs. Getting swept by the Cavs (and second-place Celtics) last year didn’t prevent the Knicks from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, we’d be remiss to say their losses to the Pistons are meaningless.
The Knicks can’t play the ‘It’s only the regular season’ card
New York doesn’t have the luxury of writing off its struggles against Detroit. At least against Cleveland last year two of its four losses came by single digits. All three of the Knicks’ letdowns against the Pistons this season have come by 10 points or more.
Context is important. New York didn’t have OG Anunoby or Karl-Anthony Towns during its Feb. 6 loss to Detroit. Yet, that happened to be Cade Cunningham’s worst game of the season series.Â
Oh, also: Every team deals with absences. The Pistons had neither Jalen Duren nor Isaiah Stewart on Thursday. (Both are serving suspensions.) They beat the Knicks into submission anyway.
Combine what we’ve seen this year with how hard New York needed to work just to squeak out a first-round victory over Detroit during the 2025 playoffs, and it’s hard to write any of this off as vacuous regular-season noise.
Knicks fans should brace themselves for unsavory narratives
Even if you manage to excuse the Knicks’ failings against the Pistons, it won’t spare you from the discourse that’s about to ensue.
Skepticism was the default outside New York entering last year’s playoffs. For good reason, too. The Knicks didn’t just get swept by the first-place Cavs. They went a combined 0-8 against Cleveland, and the second-place Celtics. People seized hold of that, and never let go.
This time around isn’t going to be any different. The murmurings have already started at the national level. They are only going to grow louder. They might even become worse than ever when taking the longer view.Â
Since Jalen Brunson arrived, and the Knicks soared up the relevancy ladder, they have just one single regular-season win against the East’s No. 1 seeds. They were 0-3 against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022-23; 1-4 against the Boston Celtics in 2023-24; 0-4 against the Cavs in 2024-25; and are now 0-3 when facing the 2025-26 Pistons. This comes out to a combined 1-14. That is, er, not great.
To their credit, the Knicks have held their own against the league’s top-10 teams this year. These performances against the Pistons and other No. 1 seeds aren’t everything. But we can’t pretend they’re nothing.Â
The Knicks have exhausted just about every iota of financial flexibility. They have burned through pretty much every possible trade asset. They have changed head coaches. To be at a point, after all that, in which their mettle against supposed peers continues to be questioned, and they’re still chasing solutions outside the locker room, is unsettling at best, and an epic failure at worst.