As Paul George even admitted following his 76ers' recent semifinal loss, this New York Knicks team is "getting momentum, and they're playing better and better as these games are coming."
So far this postseason, Jalen Brunson and company sport the second-best record at 8-2 while leading the entire league in effective field goal percentage (59.6), net rating (20.0), and point differential (plus-19.4).
They also find themselves amid a seven-game win-streak, their best playoff stretch in franchise history.
Of course, as is always the case, good times can't last forever. The fact of the matter is, at some point, the Knicks are bound to lose and run into adversity again.
In an odd way, fans should be rooting for such a happening.
Knicks must endure hardship to solifidy championship contender status
Yes, in a perfect world, New York would find itself carrying on with their momentum and win out en route to their first NBA Championship since 1973.
In such a perfect world, however, there would be no dynasty-pushing OKC Thunder... or a Detroit Pistons team that bested them on all three occasions during the regular season by an average margin of plus-28.0 points.
Every championship team deals with some form of trials and tribulations on its way toward taking home the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Heck, even the supposedly near-perfect Oklahoma City club found itself being blown out by a whopping 42 points against the Timberwolves in last year's Western Conference Finals.
The question isn't if the Knicks will deal with such hardships, but, rather, when.
Yes, New York has already endured some misfortunes during this year's playoff run. From losing two straight to the Hawks in round one to finding stud wing OG Anunoby sustaining a right hamstring strain in round two, they've gotten a taste for adversity here in 2026.
With that being said, considering said losses were literally by a combined two points, and that Anunoby's hamstring injury is widely considered to be a mere "tweak" more than anything severe, there's still technically a major question mark when it comes to how this Knicks team can answer following a severe mishap.
While it may sound odd, fans should hope to see New York run into a few rough patches moving forward, because how they respond will be the biggest litmus test of whether they can actually run the postseason gauntlet and snap their agonizing, 53-year title drought.
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