The New York Knicks are 3-8 in their last 11 games, one of the worst marks in the NBA during that stretch.
Only the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and Portland Trailblazers have a worse record in that span. For a team that was able to keep their heads above the water despite numerous injuries to star players, the impact of missing top rotation players is starting to rear its ugly head in New York.
Earlier in the season, the Knicks were priding themselves on doing the small things right: taking care of the ball, controlling the defensive glass, and moving the ball on offense. Over their 11-game skid, New York has lost this identity. They are 20th in the NBA in the last 11 games in offensive rating and 29th in defensive rating and net rating. The complimentary basketball that propelled New York to a 14-2 record in January has disappeared.
Against the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night, the lack of identity played a role once again as the Knicks lost 116-100. Without Jalen Brunson due to a knee contusion he suffered on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks offense was stagnant, shooting 38.4% from the field and 30.8% from three. New York was also outrebounded by double digits against Atlanta, one of the few instances that has happened this year.
While the past 11 games have not looked promising, they continue to keep a strong foothold in the standings. Currently tied for fourth place with the Orlando Magic, only a game and a half separates fourth place and eighth place in the East. This means that while the Knicks built a lot of cushion for themselves in January, nearly all of that progress was wiped away in February due to a plague of injuries.
With 20 games left on the slate for New York, there is plenty of fluctuation that can still occur. Depending on when players like Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and now Brunson return from injury will most likely decide where the Knicks end up in the standings.
They may even end up in the Play-In Tournament, but the Miami Heat showed the league last year playoff seeding does not matter.
While the offensive and defensive ratings may have slipped in these past 11 games for the Knicks, the most important thing remains getting and staying healthy. Without a full-strength roster, it will be nearly impossible for New York to contend in the East. Role players will need to step up in the time being as they have all season when the Knicks have been dealing with injuries, but their efforts would be futile if it came to a postseason run in the playoffs.
The closer we get to the NBA postseason without seeing a fully healthy Knicks team only raises more and more questions about whether New York can win in the playoffs this year. They already showed they have the talent to dominate the league for a stretch in January, but without being fully healthy, it could be another year of disappointment in New York.
