New York Knicks: Are They Really Contenders? We'll Soon Find Out

Spike Lee is one happy customer these days.

For the first time in about 10 years his beloved New York Knicks are relevant this deep into the season—or at least they appear to be. They are 16-9 and winners of eight straight and 13 of their last 14, a run that has New York tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference. You might have to go back to the days of Patrick Ewing and John Starks to find a streak like this.

All that said, now is not the time to jump to any wild conclusions about the Knickerbockers. Entering Monday night’s games, there are three teams—the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics—that have current win streaks equal to or better than the Knicks.

Dallas' is at 12, Boston’s, 10, and Miami, eight. Is anyone out there questioning the validity of those three teams?

I don’t mean to rain on New York City’s December parade—because after all the recent years of basketball futility—you better believe it deserves one, but there is no telling how good these Knicks are. A 13-1 stretch is impressive no matter what, but of those 13 wins, only two have come against teams with a winning record.

New York is just 3-4 against plus-.500 teams, which isn’t bad, but can we really label a team a legitimate contender if through 25 games it has only been tested by seven winning teams? Their 25 opponents have combined for an anemic .412 winning percentage, and only the Lakers have had it easier.

The great thing about the NBA is, for as long as a schedule can be a cakewalk, it quickly turns into a bloodbath. New York’s casual stroll ends Wednesday night when it begins a “show me” stretch of seven games in 15 days. It starts against the Celtics and ends with a trip to Orlando on Dec. 30. In between, the Knicks will see the Heat twice, play host to the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder and travel to Cleveland.

Fifteen days, six teams and four division leaders with a combined win percentage of .630. If you think that’s tough, go look at their January slate that includes two extended West Coast trips and dates with the Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

The NBA will know really soon whether or not it has a contender in New York again. It would be great for the league if the Knicks could begin a run of sustained success, and their two major free-agent additions from last summer have them headed in that direction.

Amar’e Stoudemire hasn’t lived up to his five-year, $100 million contract—nor will he ever because he isn’t worth that much money. But he is playing some of the best basketball of his career while debunking those “can’t-play-without-Nash” myths in the process. Stoudemire is averaging 26.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and two blocks and has scored 30-plus points in a franchise record eight straight games.

Raymond Felton, a much less celebrated signing than Stoudemire, is flourishing in coach Mike D’Antoni’s point guard-friendly system in ways he never did in Charlotte. Felton has posted career highs in points (18.4), assists (8.7), rebounds (3.8) and steals (2.0), as well as field goal and free throw shooting percentage. I would argue Felton has been equally as important to New York as Stoudemire.

The Knicks also have two players in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari who have significantly upgraded their games and have a chance to be in that “one notch below elite” level.

Where New York will likely get into trouble against the league’s best is when they have to pull from the reserves. Its bench is weak at best, especially when Chandler starts. Tony Douglas, Ronny Turiaf, Bill Walker, Anthony Randolph and Timo Mozgov make up their second five, and those names probably scare D’Antoni more than the opposing coach.

There is talk that Carmelo Anthony could soon be on his way over from Denver, which would instantly change the franchise’s fortunes. That’s nothing but a rumor and a topic for prayer among Lee and other Knicks faithful.

Ask Stoudemire and he might tell you the team will be just fine without Carmelo. After beating Anthony’s Nuggets on Sunday afternoon, he was asked how good the Knicks can be.

“Sky’s the limit,” Stoudemire replied.

Is that really the case? Or is the sky falling in the Big Apple? We’ll know in just a few short weeks.

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