The highs have been unimaginably high.
The lows have been frighteningly low.
Ultimately, with four games left in the 2025-26 regular season, New York Knicks fans are hardly more confident about the team’s title hopes than they were at this point one year ago.
That wasn’t supposed to be the case. A new head coach, a deeper roster, and an apparently “weaker” Eastern Conference were supposed to pave an orange-and-blue road to the Finals for New York.
Instead, the Knicks feel more like a wild-card Finals contender than a top-tier threat. That is not an ideal position for the franchise to be in, considering their core players are aging and they have minimal assets to improve the team moving forward.
The window is closing.
But they have one last chance to catch it before it slams shut.
New York could not have asked for a better slate of games to close out the regular season. With four straight matchups against teams they may face in the playoffs, the Knicks have a chance to enter the spring with momentum and reclaim their status as legitimate title contenders.
The Knicks are currently on a two-game win streak, having taken care of business against the lowly Grizzlies and Bulls by a combined margin of 51 points. That’s all well and good, but the Knicks have won those games all season. What has Knicks fans feeling pessimistic is the recent string of losses to surging teams like Charlotte, Houston, Oklahoma City, and the L.A. Lakers.
Coming up next on New York’s schedule are the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Charlotte Hornets. This is a chance to right the wrongs.
Sweep this four-game set, and picture where the Knicks will be heading into Game 1 of the first round: winners of 54 games and owners of a six-game winning streak entering the playoffs, with four of those wins coming against quality Eastern Conference opponents who were fighting for playoff seeding.
It probably still won’t be enough to catch the Celtics for the second seed, but the Knicks can live with that. Not only would the 54 victories be their most since 2013, but they would likely finish with the third-best net rating in franchise history.
As of today (April 6), the Knicks’ +6.7 net rating trails only the 1969-70 (+7.9) and 1993-94 (+7.5) teams in franchise history. Both of those teams made it to the NBA Finals, with the 1970 squad winning the franchise’s first title.
With a 4-0 close to their schedule, the Knicks would likely maintain their position as one of the three highest-rated teams in franchise history, solidifying their status as one of the most dangerous New York teams to ever enter a postseason tournament. More importantly, they’d prove to Knicks fans that they are prepared for high-stakes basketball against quality opponents.
The ride has been rocky, but the Knicks still have everything they’ve ever wanted directly in front of them. Sweep this four-game set, and Knicks fans will be right back on cloud nine, ready to embrace the team’s best shot at a championship in the 21st century.
For New York, the playoffs begin tonight in Atlanta.
