After losing to the Orlando Magic – 111 to 99 – the New York Knicks dropped one game below .500 for the season (35-36). That marks 4 straight losses for the Knicks, whilst also falling to 7 wins and 10 losses, since they acquired Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster trade with the Denver Nuggets.
But the Knicks needn’t panic.
On the 18th of April, the Knicks will be competing in the NBA Playoffs for the first time in over a decade. They’ve been the laughing stock of the NBA for the better part of that decade, they’ve turned that around this year. Last season the Knicks finished 11th in the Eastern Conference, winning only 29 games for the season, meaning they lost a whopping 53. With 11 games left in this season they’ve already won 35, meaning even if they split the remaining games on their schedule, they’ll improve by over 10 games this season.
That’s a massive improvement however you look at it.
It becomes even more significant, when you look at the way the Knicks have completely rebuilt their roster, from that they turned out last season. So much so, that only three players – Toney Douglas, Bill Walker and Jared Jeffries – remain from last years squad. Not one player in the Knicks starting line-up was playing for New York last year. The Knicks have completely undergone a rebuilding process – a phrase that gets thrown around all the time today – yet they’ve managed to improve whilst doing so. A rare achievement.
As Carmelo Anthony said after the loss to the Magic, “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” Despite being in the midst of a brutal stretch of their season – this loss being their fourteen game in the last twenty-three days – these Knicks know that they’re on the right path. They’ve known that ever since the day Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups arrived. But realistically they’ve known that they were going to adjust to playing together, right now even though they may not be winning, but they’re gaining valuable chemistry. Integrating two keys players into their starting line-up, midway through the season no less, was always going to be a difficult task.
Many pundits and fans have already buried this Knicks team, damning them for not performing up to lofty expectations, but please give these Knicks a chance. For the first time in a decade the Knicks are heading to the playoffs, and look set to face the Miami Heat in the opening round, who they Knicks have beaten in both of their last two contests. They would enter that series full of confidence, that they could cause an upset against one of the NBA’s heavyweights. Similar words haven’t been uttered in the Big Apple since the Ewing Era.
The Knicks are in a slump at the moment, that cannot be ignored, but a month from now playoff basketball will return to New York City. If they find a way to win just one playoff game in the Garden, mid-March frustrations will be replaced by April jubilation.
The Knicks have improved beyond any reasonable expectations this year; they deserve to be praised, not to have fans reaching for the panic button.
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