1 red flag about the Knicks’ success that makes it less impressive than it seems

The New York Knicks continued the winning way, scored a 129-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. That makes it two straight, improving to 7-3 in New York’s last 10 games. But strictly looking at wins and losses misses the point for a team like the Knicks.

New York has won 50 or more games in the past two seasons. And they’ve made the playoffs in four of the last five years. While wins are important, the Knicks should be aiming for at least an NBA Finals appearance. Unfortunately, New York has struggled against the caliber of teams they will likely face on their way to a championship. And therein lies the problem.

The Knicks struggled against winning opponents

After a recent win against the Hornets, the Knicks are 11-6 on the season. That’s good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. But New York is just 5-5 against teams with a winning record.

Looking closer at how they have fared against better teams, the Knicks are 1-2 against the Miami Heat, 0-2 against the Orlando Magic and 1-1 against the Chicago Bulls.

Sure, they have some wins against winning teams. They defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on opening night in an emotionally charged victory. They defeated the superior Boston Celtics. And they managed to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves — New York’s most impressive win of the young season.

But most of the Knicks’ success has come against losing teams. They are 2-0 against the Brooklyn Nets. They also collected wins against the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies and, most recently, the Hornets. But after being eliminated in the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers in back-to-back seasons, the real challenge for the Knicks is overcoming better teams.

Reason for hope despite the Knicks’ poor play against winning teams

But fear not Knicks fans, there is more to New York’s failure against good teams than meets the eye.

first, New York is without OG Anunoby for the last five games. Anunoby gives the Knicks significant energy. He has also traditionally been the team’s best defender — although Michal Bridges might have something to say about that now. And adds 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

New York is 3-2, which isn’t bad. But both of those losses were against winning teams. In Anunoby’s absence, the Knicks lost games to Miami (by two) and Orlando (by 12). Anunoby would probably flip at least one of those games — at least the one against the Heat given the point differential.

But the Knicks were without more than Anunoby. Mitchell Robinson, the team’s best rebounder and point guard, has been limited all season. He has missed seven of the team’s 17 games so far. And he remains on a minutes restriction, which is (probably) a precaution given how injury-prone he has been. Robinson has only played 20 or more minutes this season. And predictably, the Knicks are better when Robinson is fully available.

Backup guard Landry Shamet also suffered a relatively serious injury recently – although the diagnosis was better than originally thought. And while the Knicks are 2-0 without Shamet, both wins have come against sub-.500 teams. Shamet’s absence will be more apparent against better teams when New York could benefit from the depth he provides.

The Knicks need to show more grit and consistency, especially against winning teams. But they also suffered a number of injuries early in the season, which affected their ability to fully grasp new coach Mike Brown’s systems. Injuries also intuitively limit their ability to play their best basketball. Still, the Knicks need to figure out how to beat the better teams in the league sooner rather than later. Otherwise, their championship drought will stretch for another season — and it’s already been at least 53 years since their last.