Ranking the Knicks’ Eastern Conference opponents from easiest to toughest | Sporting News

The NBA Eastern Conference is really a story of two conferences.

At the top is a playoff race that should be brutally competitive, with several teams harboring hopes of competing for a championship or at least winning a playoff series or two.

And at the bottom is, well, a race for the bottom. Several Eastern Conference teams look like they are poised to be as bad as possible to increase their lottery odds in what is projected to be a strong draft class.

The New York Knicks are in the top half. With a deep, talented, formidable roster, the Knicks hope to be competing for a championship.

After an offseason full of movement, we’re ranking the Knicks’ Eastern Conference opponents. Note: this is not a ranking of how these teams will land in the standings, but rather, who poses the toughest challenge for the Knicks.

We start from easiest to hardest.

The Nets are really going for it this season. And by going for it, we mean the No. 1 pick in the draft. After trading Mikal Bridges, the Nets decided to bottom-out, and they are not cutting corners with this roster. There’s always the chance of a Cam Thomas explosion, a Bojan Bogdanovic revenge game, or perhaps some city rivalry motivation that produces a close game, but the Knicks’ four games against the Nets should be four easy wins.

The Raptors have the air of a potential play-in team, but examining the roster suggests they should be near the bottom of the standings. Barring superstar leaps from Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, or RJ Barrett, the Raptors just don’t have the talent or depth to really compete. Plus, the Knicks know as well as anyone how to defend Barrett and Quickley.

For some reason, the Wizards, coming off a 15-win season, added Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey, and Jonas Valanciunas this summer. They join other notable names on the roster like Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma, Cory Kispert, and Richaun Holmes. Are the Wizards trying to do the respectable version of tanking, where a couple veterans help establish a culture and win some unexpected games while still landing a top-five pick? Perhaps. For that reason, Washington lurks as a team that could hand the Knicks an upset on a random January night.

The Hornets have a nice, young core on paper. Of course, that’s been the case for years, and it almost never translates to winning seasons. Still, players like LaMelo Ball (if healthy), Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges are too talented to ignore. Tre Mann, Mark Williams, and Nick Richard are undercover good players who can help a team get a win. A hot night from Charlotte could result in a disappointing loss for the Knicks.

We’re buying the Pistons as a team that will finally take a step forward. With a new coach and some actual NBA talent they added this offseason, the Pistons may not be an easy out next year. Cade Cunningham averaged 31 and 8 on 56% shooting from the field and three-point range against the Knicks last year.

The Bulls are understandably the laughingstock of the NBA for their confusing offseason. But Chicago played the Knicks well last year and still have the ingredients to make life tough for New York. Zach LaVine (if healthy) and Coby White can get hot and have to be guarded. Josh Giddey played well against the Knicks last year as a member of the Thunder. Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith are the type of stretch bigs that have troubled Mitchell Robinson in the past. The Bulls could be a thorn in New York’s side this year.

Since the Hawks beat the Knicks in the 2021 playoffs, the Knicks have won 7 of the 11 meetings. While the Hawks have largely disappointed over that stretch, failing to repeat a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, they still have Trae Young, a sharpshooter in Bogdan Bogdanovic, some solid wings, and a plethora of big men. They’re not an easy out. If Atlanta has a good shooting night, they could be a tough opponent for the Knicks.

For whatever reason, the Knicks just seem to have the Cavs’ number. The Knicks embarrassed Cleveland in the playoffs in 2023 and went 2-1 against them last year. That includes a rousing, short-handed win in Cleveland in a game where Jalen Brunson got injured in the opening minute. Could the lopsided nature of the rivalry change this year, with Kenny Atkinson now as the Cavs’ head coach? Perhaps. But Cleveland will have to prove it first.

The Knicks-Heat rivalry still runs hot among fans. Miami beat the Knicks in the 2023 playoffs, then New York went 2-1 against Miami last year, with a thrilling come-from-behind win in November, then a January beatdown. It seems these two teams often play close games. Though Miami looks to have taken a step back this offseason, they’re always competitive and well-coached. Jimmy Butler can win the Heat a game on any night, Bam Adebayo is a tough matchup for the Knicks, the Heat have shooters who can get hot. Expect another close season series this year.

Playing the Magic must be like looking in the mirror for the Knicks. Both teams are big, physical outfits that are perfectly happy to muck up the game and grind it out. However, Orlando had New York’s number last year, winning the season series 3-1. The Magic will be a year older and more experienced this season, and they’ve added a 3-and-D guard in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who should fit like a glove. We’ll generously put the points total for Knicks-Magic games this year at 200.5.

Call us crazy, but the Knicks seem to match up well with the Bucks. Although the Bucks won last year’s season series, 3-2 (they played an extra game because of the In-Season Tournament), the Bucks’ three wins came on the back of outrageous, unsustainable three-point shooting (59-109, 54% total).

There’s no Giannis stopper in the world, but OG Anunoby matches up with him as well as any forward. Antetokounmpo has to defend Julius Randle at the other end, taking away some of his help defense. The Knicks now have Mikal Bridges to put on Damian Lillard. And on the other end, the Bucks simply don’t have an answer for Brunson, who averaged 37.2 points per game against Milwaukee last year while carving up their drop defense.

There’s always a boogeyman element about playing the team that eliminated you in the postseason. Sure, the Knicks might have been decimated by injuries by the end of their series, but the Pacers can only play who’s in front of them, and they handled that series with aplomb. This is a team that scored 130 points on 67% shooting in Game 7 in New York. 

Indiana has flown under the radar this season, but they return with the same team, a year older and more experienced. The qualities that gave the Knicks problems last year — the shooting, the length, the pace of their offense — still exist.

In New York’s favor, this year’s season series could look much different than the playoffs did with a healthy Anunoby and Bridges.

Much like we said above with the Pacers, the Knicks might carry a mental edge over Philly this year after they beat them, short-handed, in six games in the first round.

However, the Sixers return with a re-tooled lineup that now features Paul George. George is the perfect co-star on offense for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and his defense could be useful on Jalen Brunson. On the other end, Embiid and Maxey’s shot-making is simply too dynamic to truly shut down (though Robinson and Bridges will try).

The knock on the Sixers is their lack of size on the wing and backcourt. And though George, Kelly Oubre, and Caleb Martin might be able to bother Brunson defensively, Brunson still emphatically figured it out in last year’s playoffs.

These two teams’ matchups will be must-watch events this season.

1. Boston Celtics

Even the Knicks will tell you they are chasing the Celtics. Brunson admitted as much on his podcast.

The Knicks are very much built with the Celtics in mind, with their wings and guards almost mirroring Boston’s. Anunoby and Bridges can’t shut down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but they allow the other Knicks defenders to stay on their men and try to shut down Boston’s drive-and-kick game.

Robinson and Randle may be the X-factors for the Knicks. Can Randle’s size punish Boston? Can he help the Knicks generate enough threes to keep pace? Can Robinson handle Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford picking-and-popping for threes?

The Celtics are the champs and must be given the edge until the Knicks prove they really do match up with them.