Prior to the Knicks’ win over the Trail Blazers, and certainly before their win over the Clippers, the fanbase went through a non-insignificant level of panic. How much trepidation they felt varied, but it was clear that fans were becoming more and more concerned with some of the coaching decisions, the level of play, the effort, and roster construction. While many of those things are still things of note, the levels to which they have been discussed have come back down to earth, as if often does after a win.
Now, again, winning two out of three against the Clippers, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games, but still are just 16-23 on the season, and the Trail Blazers, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but still are just 19-21, isn’t a sign that this team has magically been fixed overnight. Jalen Brunson’s defense, Karl-Anthony Towns’ inconsistent offense, Mikal Bridges’ physicality, or lack thereof, Mitchell Robinson’s minutes restrictions, the up-and-down play of the bench, and Mike Brown’s questionable decisions will all inevitably rear it’s ugly head once again.
But, for as much as the Knicks have struggled, they are still just 3.5 games behind first place, and hold the sixth-best record in the league. And that’s largely because many of the league’s top teams have also gone through their own mini-struggles for different reasons.
The Pistons, the lone team sitting ahead of the Knicks in the Eastern Conference, are just 6-4 in their last ten games. They have been without Cade Cunningham for the last two games, while rising star Jalen Duren has missed the last four. Those are big reasons for their mediocre play as of late, but their struggles go past just their injuries, as their overall play has slipped a bit.
The Celtics, Raptors, and 76ers, who sit behind the Knicks in that order, have all also gone 6-4 in their last 10 games. While the Magic and Cavaliers, the two teams that were looked to be the Knicks’ biggest threats coming into the season, have gone just 5-5. In fact, there isn’t a single Eastern Conference team right now that has won more than six of its last 10 games.
And over in the Western Conference, it isn’t much better. The Thunder, who have picked it back up as of late, went through a mini-skid of their own. They lost to the Suns on January 4th, lost by 27 to the Hornets the night after, and then beat a struggling Jazz and Grizzlies team by a combined five points over their next two games. And they’re still just a month removed from losing four out of six games, including three to the Spurs over a two-week span.
Meanwhile, those same Spurs have gone just 5-5 in their last 10 games, which include losses to the aforementioned Grizzlies and Trail Blazers. The Nuggets’ struggles, like the Pistons’, can largely be attributed to injuries, as they have been without Nikola Jokic and a myriad of other starters for some time now, but they, too, have gone just .500 over their last 10 games. As have the Timberwolves, who lost to the struggling Cavaliers and Nets during that span.
And then there are the Lakers and Rockets, who have both looked bad, losing three in a row. The former managed to score just 91 points against the Spurs, lost to the Bucks, and then lost to a Kings team that hadn’t even won double-digit games coming into the night, and was on the second half of a back-to-back. The latter lost to a still Kyrie Irving-less Mavericks team, lost back-to-back games against the Trail Blazers, and the Kings as well.
Does any of this excuse the Knicks for their poor play? No. Does it make you, or anyone else forget the holes that are very much a concern going forward? No. And does it, or should it, make you feel any better about the fact that they looked like one of the worst teams in the league for about two weeks? Also no. But it does help put things into perspective to a degree.
An 82-game regular season is a long and strenuous one, and with the talent of the league and the volatility of shooting, teams, more than ever, are prone to being upset or losing games they shouldn’t. And over the season, lulls are bound to happen.
[**The Pacers, who went on to the NBA Finals last year, were 16-18 in early January last season**](https://x.com/humrashid/status/2008558825214013556?s=20). The [**four teams that made the NBA Cup Semifinals this season started a combined 8-12 in their first 20 games after the tournament**](https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/2008654987031900652?s=20). And as Thunder general manager, Sam Presti mentions above, teams are going to have losing streaks and underperform for stretches. The important thing is what the coaches, players, and front office can do to work through it and learn from it.