Despite currently being the three-seed in the Eastern Conference with a 37-20 record, the New York Knicks have had their fair share of issues against the top teams in the NBA.
New York had a chance to exorcise its demons this past weekend with games against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and the 41-16 Boston Celtics. Instead of gaining ground against the East’s best teams, the Knicks lost to the Cavs by 37 on Friday and by 13 to the Celtics on Sunday.
Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart explained why he thinks the Celtics are so hard to go up against while talking to CLNS Media.
“They’ve got three-level scorers at every single position,” he said. “Man, you’ve got [Jayson] Tatum, who will probably be First-Team All-NBA, Jaylen Brown will probably be Second Team, then [Kristaps] Porzingis, [Derrick] White, Jrue [Holiday], [Payton] Pritchard’s probably Sixth Man. They’ve got everything, man. They’re a heck of a team, well-coached team, disciplined team, but we’ve got to step it up.”
Though the Knicks only lost to the Celtics by 13 this time around, there was a moment in the game where they trailed by 27 points.
Josh Hart to me on why the #Celtics have challenged the #Knicks so much: “It’s tough. They have three-level scorers at every single position. They got the length defensively to make us get into tough shots.”
Also rattled off how many players you need to account for. pic.twitter.com/FJuwTb5DG1
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) February 23, 2025
When asked about where he thinks New York stands in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said that his team is a work in progress like all other teams in the league trying to make it to the playoffs.
“Where I said from the beginning of the season: We’re a work in progress,” Towns said. “We’re going to be a work in progress all year until the day we step into the postseason. Every team in the NBA will tell you the same thing. We’re all a work in progress until the postseason when you put all the chips and cards and see what the season taught you.”
Lifelong Knicks fan and ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith slammed his favorite basketball team in a recent episode of First Take. When questioned about the Knicks’ competitiveness in the East, Stephen A. said the Knicks were not a serious threat to the Cavs or Celtics.
“The Knicks, they’re pretenders,” he explained. “I think they’re the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. They are a precipitous drop-off from the top two teams… I’d give the Lakers a better chance of coming out of the West than I’d give the Knicks coming out of the East because the Celtics and the Cavaliers are so dominant compared to the Knicks that I don’t see the Knicks having a chance against either one of them.”
“The Knicks, they’re pretenders. … They are a precipitous drop-off from the top-two teams.”@stephenasmith doesn’t believe the Knicks, as of right now, will make it past the semifinals 😳 pic.twitter.com/MpnSOylo4t
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 24, 2025
Following New York’s back-to-back losses, they fell to 0-5 on the season against the Cavaliers and the Celtics.
The Knicks have been able to beat up on the NBA’s bad teams. However, they’re only 11-14 this season when going up against squads with winning records. Defense is part of the reason why the Knicks have struggled against the better teams in the league. After finishing second in points per game allowed last year, the Knicks have fallen to 14th this season, which is uncharacteristic for a team led by coach Tom Thibodeau.
“It’s probably a combination of things,” said New York’s head coach. “One, they’re elite, and I think the volume three-shooting teams, you can do a good job, but it just takes two or three minutes of not getting it right, and they can go on a run on you. So it’s something that we got to continue to work on and that’s the test of the league. So learn from each game, get ready for the next one. And that’s where we want to focus on.”
