There’s no hotter team in basketball right now than the surging New York Knicks, winners of eight straight (their longest streak since Amar’e and Carmelo’s heyday in 2014) and current owners of the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed. The rejuvenated Knicks, who have already obliterated their projected win total for the year (Vegas pegged them for just 22.5 wins), have done it with defense, limiting their opponents to a league-low 104.2 points per game. Defensive-minded coach Tom Thibodeau has had his fingerprints all over New York’s surprise renaissance, as has out-of-nowhere MVP candidate Julius Randle, fresh off another 40-point performance Wednesday against Atlanta.
It’s been eight years since New York last qualified for the playoffs, but barring a collapse of epic proportions, the Knicks appear well on their way to ending that exasperating dry spell. New York’s revival has been a cause for celebration across the league with many, including Lakers star LeBron James, rejoicing in the long-suffering Knicks’ return to relevance.
James isn’t wrong in his assessment the NBA is more fun when the Knicks are competitive (anyone who lived through Patrick Ewing and John Starks’ glory years in the 1990s could attest to this). The Knicks have spent much of the past decade as a punchline—and rightfully so under the leadership of erratic owner James Dolan. But now that they’re on top again, suddenly the league and everyone in it has nothing but good things to say about them, garnering praise from the most visible player in the sport, LeBron James, as well as Pelicans All-Star Zion Williamson, who was downright giddy to make his MSG debut earlier this week.
There’s work to be done—the Knicks are only a half-game up on Atlanta for the No. 4 seed, which would assure them home-court advantage in their opening-round playoff series. The danger for the Knicks is falling out of the Eastern Conference’s top six, necessitating their participation in the dreaded “play-in” round. But regardless of how the final weeks play out, it’s clear Thibodeau has tapped into something with this group, transforming the long-suffering Knicks from an unwatchable laughingstock to a scrappy bunch of overachievers well worth our time and attention.
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