Looking at the Eastern Conference standings, the New York Knicks look like solid playoff contenders. However, ESPN senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst is not high on the Knicks playoff chances. His reasoning is persuasive. At 37-20, the Knicks hold a firm grasp on the third seed. They’ve spent the last two months in the same spot, mainly due to the teams below them being unable to climb the ladder. There is a flip side to that, though. In turn, the Knicks have also been challenged in climbing the ladder. Are they a playoff team? Sure, there is little doubt there. However, as Windhorst argues, for New York, there will be little left to cheer about after they make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Knicks have one significant flaw: they can’t overtake their conference’s top-tier teams. In four matchups against the Cleveland Cavaliers and\u00a0<\/span>Boston Celtics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0this season (two games apiece), the Knicks are 0-4. Granted, the Knicks are 2-0 over the Milwaukee Bucks, 2-1 against the Indiana Pacers, and have also\u00a0<\/span>racked up wins over a few Western Conference teams<\/span><\/a>\u00a0like the Denver Nuggets,\u00a0<\/span>Houston Rockets<\/span><\/a>, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Memphis Grizzlies. However, the Knicks won’t need to go through any of those teams to make a finals appearance, and that is where the problem lies.<\/span><\/p>\n The Knicks’ inability to win over the Celtics and Cavaliers casts serious doubt on their chances of a deep playoff run. Despite a star-studded starting five and\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns’ emergence as the Knicks’ largest threat, arguably outside of Jalen Brunson, New York has a gaping defensive flaw. Also, while they’ve generally played good basketball this season, they still don’t look complete.<\/p>\n Windhorst was recently on NBA Today arguing the reasons why the Knicks have trouble ahead, including a possible snag in the KAT-Mitchell Robinson dynamic (Twitter link<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s three things I am worried about. Number one, even when Mitchell Robinson comes back, you\u2019re now going to ask Karl-Anthony Towns to play power forward. He hasn\u2019t played there all year, so now he\u2019s gotta go chase stretch power forwards. They\u2019ve got to work that out.\u00a0<\/em>Number two, they are poor against the three-point shot. Well, two teams are ahead of them in the East, and the two teams they have to beat in the playoffs \u2013 Cleveland and Boston. Boston is number one in volume and Cleveland is number one in percentage. It\u2019s not the weakness you want to have.\u00a0<\/em>Number three, they have the toughest road in the whole NBA. They would be on the opposite side of the bracket as Cleveland. You have to get through Boston to get to Cleveland without home-court advantage in either game.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n “It’s hard to be excited about [the Knicks’] high ceiling.”@WindhorstESPN<\/a> laid out his three big concerns that could limit the Knicks’ championship aspirations \ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/RkqnjqgKjx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n1, 2, 3, Windhorst Doesn’t Believe<\/h3>\n
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