The New York Knicks’ recent loss to the Detroit Pistons was a tough pill to swallow for the team and its fans. It represented the completion of a season sweep by Detroit, in which the East’s No. 1 seed outscored New York by 84 points.
Since then, though, the Knicks have responded with two straight wins on consecutive nights. It highlights a reality that the New York faithful need to keep in mind as they grapple with the weight of the Detroit sweep:
The Knicks have still been the NBA’s best team over the past month.
From Jan. 21 to Feb. 22, the Knicks posted a league-best net rating of +13.7, while compiling a 12-3 record. That’s with two blowout losses to Detroit.
Even with some bumps in the road, this New York team has escaped the darkness it previously found itself shrouded in. Fans should be overjoyed by that fact.
After a 23-9 start, the Knicks fell into a ghastly 2-9 slump that had the fanbase quickly losing faith, punctuated by an embarrassing home blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Calls were being made to oust head coach Mike Brown.
Following that adversity, New York has responded admirably. Starting with a franchise record-setting 54-point demolition of the Brooklyn Nets, the Knicks have returned to their elite ways since the treacherous post-NBA Cup stretch.
Yes, of course, those Pistons games are as important as it gets. That is the team New York (likely) must eventually get through to reach their intended destination.
Still, the Knicks’ elite play over the past month is not meaningless when it comes to their chances of beating the Pistons, even if the stretch includes two lopsided losses to Detroit. The Knicks are slowly finding different answers to all sorts of problems. The more answers they find over the next two-plus months, the more prepared they’ll be for Detroit if the teams meet again in the playoffs.
It’s not as if this stretch has been easy for New York. Miles McBride has missed 12 of the past 15 games, and the Knicks are 9-3 in those contests. Mitchell Robinson has missed four games, and New York went 3-1 without him.
The stretch also includes plenty of quality victories that send positive messages about the team’s playoff preparedness:
- 2 road wins @ Philadelphia (Combined margin: +52)
- Blowout road win @ Toronto (+27)
- Blowout road win @ Boston (+22)
- Decisive win vs. Lakers (+12)
- Double-overtime win vs. Nuggets
- 18-point comeback win vs. Rockets
From three 20-plus-point road wins over Eastern Conference playoff teams to their hard-fought home wins against the Nuggets and Rockets, the Knicks are figuring out how to beat serious foes in a vast quantity of ways.
No, Detroit isn’t part of that success just yet. But that doesn’t mean the Pistons cannot be added to New York’s list of victims once the playoffs come around.
The Knicks are playing the best basketball in the NBA right now, and New York fans should be ecstatic about what it means for the team’s chances of eventually flipping the script on their fiercest competitor in the East.
