Realistic expectations for the New York Knicks
How the New York Knicks close the season will go a long way in what to expect from the team once the playoffs start, but there is some genuine hope and optimism surrounding this team for the first time in a long while. But I also believe that there should be some context when it comes to the Knicks’ success this season.
Look, what the Knicks have done during the second half of the season should be praised. Even though many believed that they improved during the offseason, I don’t think many believed that the Knicks would be a top 4 seed this season. And there’s a good chance that New York finishes the year as the fourth seed. That’d be a huge success for this team.
At the same time, let’s not get their recent success twisted. For as good as the Knicks have been in the last 30 games, this is not the same type of run that we saw the Boston Celtics go on last year when they were just clobbering the rest of the league on their way to an NBA Finals run.
The Knicks are good. They’re actually playing really good basketball right now. But I don’t think their possible title contention timeline has changed.
The goal for this season should be to win a playoff series. Anything after that is icing on the cake of the season. But the Knicks may still be a year or two away from true contention. That said, there’s no question that this season was a huge step forward for the team.