The New York Knicks have a chance to prove everyone wrong this weekend, but it certainly won't be easy. Their first game back from the All-Star break is on Thursday at MSG against Chicago. After that, the team will travel to Cleveland for the second half of a back-to-back against the Cavaliers.
New York is 0-1 against Cleveland this season and 0-2 against Boston. It so happens that the Knicks will play both this weekend on the road. Friday and Sunday's games will be a test as to whether they're contenders or just pretenders. Plenty of people, like ESPN's Brian Windhorst, don't think New York is a real threat to the top two teams in the East.
"I'm not staying up nights worrying about the Knicks," - @WindhorstESPN on a potential Cavs and Knicks series 😯
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) February 18, 2025
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/xAfjxZCHNR
The Knicks haven't played the Cavaliers since their 110-104 loss on Oct. 28. That game happened six days after they were blown out by the Celtics, 132-109, on opening night. Over three months later, New York hosted Boston and lost by 27 points, four more than the first matchup on Oct. 22. Losing by that margin (twice) is worrisome.
This weekend's games will be the ultimate test for the Knicks
The front office didn't make franchise-altering trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns during the offseason for the Knicks to come up short in the first (or second) round of the playoffs. It's been 25 years since they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, which is still one step shy of where they want to be.
If the season ended today, New York would play Detroit (who would've thought?) in the first round. And no, beating the Pistons wouldn't be a gimme for the Knicks. If they did advance, they would play the Celtics in the second round (as long as Boston wins its first-round matchup).
New York and Boston are destined to collide in the postseason. Have the Knicks proven they can end the Celtics' hopes of becoming back-to-back champions? No. Does that mean that things can't change? Also no. There are still two months left in the regular season, and New York will soon get a reinforcement in the form of Mitchell Robinson.
Picking up back-to-back wins this weekend over the top two teams in the East would be massive for the Knicks, but at the end of the day, it'd only be Ws in the regular-season column. What matters most will begin in April.