The New York Knicks have been on a great run, their best in the last five decades. With the third-best record in the league, they are being considered a strong title contender this season. However, Josh Hart doesn’t want to get his hopes up on numbers alone. He is taking a more realistic approach towards the championship.
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Hart was recently in conversation with Malika Andrews of ESPN. Andrews outlined how the Knicks have won 36 games ahead of the All-Star break, which is the most in the franchise’s history since 1973. The Knicks won their last championship that year.
When asked if the team has started to believe that they can raise another banner at the MSG this year, Hart said, “Yeah. I mean, you always wanna have a belief.” Although he didn’t neglect the chances of history repeating itself this year, Hart is more focused on the work his team is going to put in.
He added, “We know that’s not good enough. We’ve got to go out there, we’ve got to execute, we’ve got to get a lot better. I think we have 36 wins, we should have a couple more.” Hart said that the team is taking things on one game at a time basis and if they manage to do everything right in the process, they’ll get there.
"As a basketball player, you never want to come out of the game." 😤
Josh Hart to @malika_andrews on the New York Knicks leading the NBA in minutes played this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/4XwEGhxxRH
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 13, 2025
The Knicks have some great competition at the top of the Eastern Conference charts. They have met the table-toppers Cavaliers once this season, where they lost 104-110. The Knicks have faced the defending champions Celtics twice and have lost both games.
Getting through these teams isn’t going to be easy and that will cast a shadow on the Knicks’ championship hopes.
The main issues for the Knicks going for a ring
As strong as the Knicks have been so far, some major issues with the team might become a problem later. The Knicks have the weakest bench in the league. With just 21.5 points per game, the Knicks have averaged the fewest ppg by a team off the bench this season. For comparison, the Cavs’ bench averages 38.8 points per game.
Another major issue with the Knicks is going to be the high number of minutes played by their key players. Mikal Bridges is leading the chart of most minutes played in the NBA with a 38.2 minutes per game average. Hart is third on the list with 37.8 mpg.
OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, and Karl-Anthony Towns are also in the top 25. While it’s something to boast about as it shows how fit the players are, during the course of a long season, this will also make them more likely to be injured. Heading towards the more serious phase of the season, the Knicks can’t afford that because they suffered last season due to injuries and exhaustion.
