80 games in, the 2026 Knicks were still destination unknown. After thrashing Toronto 112-95 in game 81, the picture is clearer.
The Celtics hammered the Pelicans 144-118, locking up the 2-seed, while the Cavaliers showed they’re already in playoff form, falling badly to the Hawks. The East top-four are set: Detroit, Boston, New York and Cleveland. While that’s been in place most of the past few months, there’s still no way of knowing who any of them will face in the first round. Apparently a third
of the league not even trying has a kind of muddying effect on the whole.
The Raptors may be the team most Knick fans hope the ’bockers battle in round one, and this was a good reminder why. The Knicks led for the final 36 minutes. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined to go 20-of-30 from the field. Despite a lousy teamwide effort shooting 3s, the visiting Raptors weren’t much better from deep, attempted fewer free throws than the Knicks made, were a -7 in the turnover battle, had 36 points at halftime and RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley didn’t even play. Next time just forfeit, dudes.
The biggest concern from this game is OG Anunoby’s health. Ogugua tripped on Scottie Barnes’ foot and left the game nearly midway through the second quarter. He did not return, hopefully because the 3-seed was pretty much a lock, because with the Knicks’ real season still over a week away better safe than sorry, and because despite all y’all ready to hand Mike Brown a pink slip I’ll remind you the last Knick coach would’ve had OG back on the floor before halftime.
So yay! The Knicks have won their most games since 2013, their second-most since 1996. They’re off tomorrow, have nothing to play for Sunday and then have another week off. They’ve won 12 of 15. Dunno how much to make out of beating the mad mid dinosaurs, but champions tend to stack Ws. This game kinda crystallized the season so far: the games that matter aren’t here yet, but the Knicks look better than they did 12 months ago and better than they did when this season kicked off. That’s all you can ask for, isn’t it?
