This season has been a great one thus far for the New York Knicks, but they have been in a slump recently.
New York had lost three consecutive games before their dominant victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday, but they hope that performance can help turn things around as they head into the playoffs.
Of course, the loss of Jalen Brunson to an ankle injury has been a major one for the Knicks, but he is expected to return before the playoffs begin, which is crucial if the Knicks want to be title contenders this season.
Outside of Brunson, the rest of New York's core has played well, including their offseason addition of Karl-Anthony Towns who is putting together one of the best seasons of his career.
While that may be the case, the Knicks do need to turn things around before the playoffs begin, but ESPN's Kendrick Perkins still believes that they are one of the top threats to the Boston Celtics' title defense.
"I do have the New York Knicks. I still have them as a threat to Boston," Perkins said on ESPN's NBA Today. "I feel like they got enough time to pull it together. I feel like they can bounce back."
.@KendrickPerkins ranks the top 5 teams that could be a threat to the Celtics pic.twitter.com/LrPbl4XuOe
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 6, 2025
Of course, the Knicks have been horrible against the top teams in the NBA this season, including Boston, as they are winless against the top two seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conference.
Because of that, it is hard to make a point about them being a true title contender, but Perkins did place the Knicks fifth on his list and only the second Eastern Conference team on it besides the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For the Knicks to make a deep playoff run and contend for a title, they will first need Brunson to be fully healthy ahead of the playoffs and they will also need the rest of their roster to step up, which has not been the case against the top teams in the league.
Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM.