1. Knicks Finish Above .500 & Earn Homecourt In NBA Playoffs
The Eastern Conference is wide open behind the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Only seven games separate the No. 4 seed in the conference from last place as virtually every team still has a chance of making the expanded postseason field. No one has separated themselves from the pack for that last spot of homecourt advantage in the first round, so why not the Knicks?
The Knicks are currently a half-game out of the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Of all the teams vying for that spot, they have one elite thing to fall back on that the other teams don’t have; their defense.
The Knicks are third in the NBA in defensive rating, trailing only the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz. They are giving up the fewest points per game in the NBA, hold opponents to an NBA-low 43.3 percent shooting from the floor and 32.5 percent from the 3-point line.
The Knicks have an elite-level defense. If they can figure things out a little more offensively, homecourt advantage in the playoffs would be very attainable and put Tom Thibodeau in the driver’s seat for Coach of the Year.
