We’re just a month away from the conclusion of the regular season, and it’s anybody’s guess where the Knicks will finish in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
As they slowly return to full form after a barrage of midseason injuries, the hope is that a late run can secure them a high seed and easier first round opponent. That’s the optimistic case, but reality can deliver many unforeseen outcomes.
With that in mind, let’s go through each of their potential postseason matchups, ranking them from most ideal to most threatening…
Bulls/Hawks
It would take something going really wrong (a bad losing streak) or really right (a wild first round upset) for the Knicks to run into one of these play-in teams. Nevertheless, they’re a combined 3-1 against these squads, with neither posing a material threat over a seven-game series.
The Pacers may be a longtime rival, but they’re still relatively young and unproven. Tyrese Haliburton has cooled off dramatically, and they’re in search of outside shooting and are much more formidable at a high pace of play — which doesn’t translate easily into the playoffs.
This may be overly aggressive, ranking a Cleveland team that ran through the league missing key pieces this low, but it’s hard to see how they overcome the edge New York has on them. The same issues that plagued Cleveland last playoffs — a weaker frontcourt, two defensively-challenged guards and questionable depth — may very well burn them again.
It’s no surprise then that the Knicks are 2-1 against them this season. It won’t be a five-game out again, but as long as these two teams are structured this way, New York should maintain its stranglehold.
Magic
The Magic may come off as a cute feel-good story to some, but they went 3-1 against the Knicks this season, and are better built for a grueling playoff series than one would think. They’re comfortable in a defensive, grimy, slow paced type of game, and have a bunch of versatile defenders to throw the Knicks’ way.
Without Joel Embiid, the Sixers are merely a footnote in this race. However, he’s due to return at some point in the regular season. How he looks will ultimately determine how serious a foe Philly shakes out to be.
Heat
The regular season doesn’t count — this team is just a whole other beast once the lights get brighter, and are oh-so-familiar with New York’s grinding, slow paced style. The additions of Terry Rozier and Jaime Jacquez, Jr. can’t be ignored, and while the Knicks washed them in a late January meeting with all their main guys, a playoff series between the two won’t go down like that.
The league’s leading juggernaut may be 4-0 against New York this season, but none of those matchups featured a healthy post-trade Knicks lineup. Generally, New York plays Boston well, and something seems to always plague the Celtics come playoff time.
The biggest advantage for Boston is the spacing Kristaps Porzingis brings from the five spot, but the Knicks have more options to neutralize that than they had at the beginning of the year. They can also now throw Anunoby at whichever star Celtic wing is going off that night. Their shutdown defense should pay dividends in crunch time, where Boston has looked shaky at times this year.
The Bucks have had a rocky season despite being a top-three seed in the East. Even with a midseason coaching change and touch and go defense, they’re 3-1 against the Knicks, granted not having faced the Anunoby version.
While a full Knicks team is much better equipped to compete with them, the star power of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, especially in the playoffs, poses the biggest threat to a deep Knicks run.
