It may seem premature, but there are only seven weeks until the New York Knicks kick off the 2024-25 NBA season. With a formidable roster on paper, the Knicks look like a team that can build off of their stellar regular season in 2023-24 and translate that into a deeper playoff run in 2025. In order to get there, the Knicks will need to play well in the upcoming regular season campaign, which begs to question of how many wins they’ll earn on the year.
New York won 50 games last season. That marked their first 50-win season since 2012-13. They achieved this without All-Star Julius Randle in the lineup for the final 36 games of the campaign. They also dealt with injuries to OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson down the back half of their slate. This time around, their troops will be healthy and joined by NBA Iron Man Mikal Bridges as well as a fortified second unit.
Knicks’ record next season will be predicated in large part around their strength of schedule
The Knicks schedule for next season has already been released. The Knickerbockers will have their work cut out for them to kick off the campaign. In their first 10 games alone, they’ll face the defending champion Boston Celtics, the Indiana Pacers in two rematches from their 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals series, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Philadelphia 76ers. They will play four of those seven daunting games on the road.
This will be a great litmus test to see how well the new-look Knicks stack up against the most talented teams in the East in the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, and Heat, as well as the Pacers and Cavs who have tested the Knicks in previous postseasons.
Fortunately for them, the Knicks won’t see a single road trip that lasts longer than five games. The downside is that the first of their two five-game slates away from Madison Square Garden will come only four games after the aforementioned first 10 games for the franchise. They’ll be pitted against three NBA Finals contenders in the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. They’ll also square off against a Utah Jazz team that cannot be slept on.
The Knicks will face tough tests in their two longest homestands
When looking at their homestands, the Knicks will get a break between Jan. 6 and Jan. 13, when they will host the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, two struggling franchises. Albeit, that stretch will also include dates with the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic, as well as the Bucks.
Their other five-game run at Madison Square Garden will throw more Western Conference threats at them, including the Sacramento Kings, the Memphis Grizzlies with Ja Morant back in action, the Nuggets once more, followed by LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ Los Angeles Lakers, and another sleeper team in the Houston Rockets.
The latter may be the Knicks’ toughest string of games for the entire season before they prepare to take a bow against the Atlanta Hawks, Pistons, and Brooklyn Nets in three of their last six games of the campaign.
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How the Knicks’ record will be impacted beyond their schedule
The schedule itself presents several challenges for New York. That being said, the way their group of guys gel will too. The Knicks have another hungry mouth in Bridges to feed. How this will affect Randle’s touches and satisfaction with his role in the offense remains to be seen.
Then there’s the backup point guard slot. Will Miles McBride be pushed out of the rotation or will Cam Payne take a backseat to the emergent two-way star? The Knicks will also have to prove that they have enough scoring punch and depth at the backup power forward slot behind Randle to survive another injury bug that is not promised to come, nor gloss over the team in 2024-25.
If the Knicks can maintain their league-leading 52.7 percent rebounding rate from last season and collectively self-will a sharp vicissitude in their dead-last pace of play (95.96) while staying true to their strength as a formidable defense, and most importantly ensuring that their team chemistry is harmonious, then head coach Tom Thibodeau will be positioned to put his troops in motion to compete for a title and Jalen Brunson will have the stage set for him to lead such a charge behind another likely All-Star campaign and MVP candidacy.
It’s well within reason to envision the Knicks as a team that can flirt with 55 wins in 2024-25. Bridges’ health and reliability will be the most impactful new variable that makes their upcoming experiment trend in that direction.
