Knicks · First Round Matchups (page 1)

DLeethal @ 3/4/2024 3:32 PM
Figured this could make for a decent thread. Anyone's guess who we end up playing in the first round, all of the potential opponents bring their own pros and cons. What is the best matchup in your eyes and what is the worst?

Cavs
Bucks
76ers
Heat
Pacers
Magic

I think I would say Magic would be the preferred opponent due to inexperience even though we haven't beaten them yet. I would probably take Cleveland after that. We seem to be the boogeyman for them and just match up very well, neuter their bigs, and have the right defenders for their guards.

I'd like to avoid MIL at all costs in the first round. Their shooters seem to always light us up. We also seem to struggle against 3 point shooting 5s that bring our anchors out of the paint. I also don't love the Indy matchup for that reason.

nycericanguy @ 3/4/2024 3:37 PM
I would say IND... they don't defend and at full strength I dont think they can beat us. ORL's defense is so good and they have handled us this season, I think I'd rather face IND. in a playoff series things will slow down and they cant beat us in the halfcourt.

But really, ORL, CLE, IND... I'd gladly take any of those teams in the 1st round. Beating DM again might just sway him enough to join us.

The matchups to avoid are def MIL, PHI and MIA. Each of those teams have been #1 seeds in the past 3 years.

SupremeCommander @ 3/4/2024 3:44 PM
I hate asking for an opponent because man does that have blow-up-in-your-face potential.

That said, gimme the 76ers. Even if Joel comes back, it's not like they are going to let him play 43 minutes a game, so I tend to think he's shut down for the year

I think Cleveland is just used to being bigger than the other team...we play way bigger than they do. I like that matchup

Buck and Heat are scary for obvious reasons, regardless of how either performs at any given moment

I do not think the Pacers or Magic go very far but I mean I could see Banchero or Halliburton going supernova for one series and I'd rather not deal with that

DLeethal @ 3/4/2024 4:13 PM
SupremeCommander wrote:I hate asking for an opponent because man does that have blow-up-in-your-face potential.

That said, gimme the 76ers. Even if Joel comes back, it's not like they are going to let him play 43 minutes a game, so I tend to think he's shut down for the year

I think Cleveland is just used to being bigger than the other team...we play way bigger than they do. I like that matchup

Buck and Heat are scary for obvious reasons, regardless of how either performs at any given moment

I do not think the Pacers or Magic go very far but I mean I could see Banchero or Halliburton going supernova for one series and I'd rather not deal with that

We seem to match up well with Philly and Embiid will have a tough time trying to find his groove off knee surgery against our team. That said, I'd probably rather avoid those guys if we can.

nycericanguy @ 3/4/2024 4:16 PM
You never want to play the teams with the best players on the court
Nalod @ 3/4/2024 4:34 PM
I want the Heat.
foosballnick @ 3/4/2024 5:37 PM
I may be talking out my arse, but my feeling is that at full strength the Knicks can beat anybody, including the Celtics. With OG and Mitch back - the defense and rebounding will be unrelenting regardless of starters/reserve units. Add Randle back and give them a month of working with the entire unit, now including Bogs....team will perform like it did in January. Don't care who we face if at full strength - question is, will everyone be healthy with enough time in the season to play together and work out the kinks.
GustavBahler @ 3/4/2024 5:44 PM
The younger teams worry me because the Knicks are the "walking wounded". If we get Mitch back healthy, I'm going to say the Sixers.
Rookie @ 3/4/2024 6:31 PM
Nalod wrote:I want the Heat.

I hate the way the get up in you when they defend and slide under you when you shoot. Is rather face them later and play as many games as we can with healthy ankles

VDesai @ 3/5/2024 8:01 AM
I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

SergioNYK @ 3/5/2024 9:26 AM
Anyone but Miami. We can't beat them and we'll have guys injured trying to do so.
DLeethal @ 3/5/2024 11:12 AM
VDesai wrote:I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

The one thing with Indy and ORL is that we haven't played them, post OG trade, full strength. It's tough to say how we would fare against them with our full deck.

martin @ 3/5/2024 11:58 AM
VDesai wrote:I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

For whatever reason, Orlando gives me the biggest scare

EwingPSD @ 3/5/2024 12:36 PM
The Magic and Cavs would be my preferred opponents. Half-court teams that normally play a nonshooting 5 and don't light it from 3. I don't want to see the Celtics or Bucks b/c I don't think we can stop them from the 3-point line. The way things are going for the Pacers I wouldn't mind them either. They miss Buddy Hield a lot and haven't done a great job maintaining their offensive identity while integrating PS
fishmike @ 3/5/2024 12:56 PM
martin wrote:
VDesai wrote:I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

For whatever reason, Orlando gives me the biggest scare

size. Thing w/ Cavs and Pacers is we can push them around. Hard to get too scared there. Of course they can light it up but I LOVE any matchup where the Knicks win the physical battle and let Brunson cook in crunch time
EwingPSD @ 3/5/2024 1:05 PM
fishmike wrote:
martin wrote:
VDesai wrote:I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

For whatever reason, Orlando gives me the biggest scare

size. Thing w/ Cavs and Pacers is we can push them around. Hard to get too scared there. Of course they can light it up but I LOVE any matchup where the Knicks win the physical battle and let Brunson cook in crunch time

The Cavs played 2 7 footers together, shot the 3 poorly, and were last in the league in pace last season. They played into our hands. The Heat on the other hand play Bam at the 5, play smaller front line, and went 5 out with shooters a lot. The Hawks also played small and frequently went 5 out a lot. The Knicks are very good at their style. They should welcome teams that are more willing to play it. Give me the Magic. They can't shoot and want to get into a rock fight

newyorknewyork @ 3/5/2024 2:02 PM
Outside of facing Boston in the first round as an 8th seed or so for the first round. Not concerned about any other team. If Knicks are the real deal then we are going to have to be able to beat these teams. Looking to cherry pick who is faced isn't the metal of a true contender.
DLeethal @ 3/5/2024 2:08 PM
EwingPSD wrote:
fishmike wrote:
martin wrote:
VDesai wrote:I don't want to touch the Magic or the Pacers in round 1. We seem to have an issue with these teams. Obviously you don't want the Celtics either. Ideally you avoid the Bucks.

That Sixers/Heat/Cavs are left in that group. Sixers without Embiid are a team you need to beat. The Heat are maybe the toughest out in the league, but I want revenge. The Cavs - probably want revenge on us, but for whatever reason we are in their heads and we match up well with them. Their bigs seem to dominate everyone other than us.

For whatever reason, Orlando gives me the biggest scare

size. Thing w/ Cavs and Pacers is we can push them around. Hard to get too scared there. Of course they can light it up but I LOVE any matchup where the Knicks win the physical battle and let Brunson cook in crunch time

The Cavs played 2 7 footers together, shot the 3 poorly, and were last in the league in pace last season. They played into our hands. The Heat on the other hand play Bam at the 5, play smaller front line, and went 5 out with shooters a lot. The Hawks also played small and frequently went 5 out a lot. The Knicks are very good at their style. They should welcome teams that are more willing to play it. Give me the Magic. They can't shoot and want to get into a rock fight

I agree with your picks and reasoning 100%. We don't do well against spread teams with shooting 5's and we also don't do well with smaller teams that still play physical AF like Miami (Bam) and GSW (Dray).

franco12 @ 3/7/2024 7:43 AM
if we don't get healthy, this post is going to look very silly since we might not get out of the play in. And there is nothing about getting any players back that we can count on.

Randle especially, may still need surgery, even if he comes back.

This is going to be like the opposite of 99, where we had a great team, but sputtered short late.

Looking at the next five games, not sure we can win any, especially if Brunson is out or still ailing.

Nalod @ 3/7/2024 8:47 AM
franco12 wrote:if we don't get healthy, this post is going to look very silly since we might not get out of the play in. And there is nothing about getting any players back that we can count on.

Randle especially, may still need surgery, even if he comes back.

This is going to be like the opposite of 99, where we had a great team, but sputtered short late.

Looking at the next five games, not sure we can win any, especially if Brunson is out or still ailing.

Yep. Fans hate "leads". Better to come back from behind and fall short than build a lead then "Squander it".
Think about the phycology of "Squander a lead" and how it brow beats the fan into anger.
We are falling in the standings and some fans who should "drink coffee and talk tennis" get very upset at losses but in my opinion are quite happy with winning as if "its ours to lose". The notion of "Losing" vs. "defeated" is not one and the same. Losing implies "Loss". Defeat implies some acknowledgement the opponent played better that night, or has superior talent.
When 80% of ones starting line up is out the winning % accomplished this season means little. Add the aggravation of seeing IQ and RJ still playing while OG sits does not help. We lose the long view, yell at our TV's and wonder "WTF is Spike these days"?

The 99' is seen as "A team that came from the 8th seed as a cinderella story to the finals!". Thats what we remember, and we certainly have forgotten all of Spreewells issues of authority, but the reality was the team was actually failing given its potential with its coach who owned his job to Ewing and the GM who was building a young and running team. JVG was on the hot seat and was to be fired by seasons end. Instead he earned a 2million two year extension (this was 25 years ago folks) and instead Dolan fires Earnie Grunfeld. I loved JVG up until then because he was the long shot dude who go the gig and made good. Reality was because how his big salary Dolan now had a coach with a roster not suited to his talents. Earnie wanted to move from Ewing who whose contract was an albatross and on the court was slowing them down.

This year the wonderful January post trade was a gift. Fans of either RJ or IQ both were shocked into a deal that most were ambivalent with. OG is not the star we were star-hunched into thinking would one day come. Instead we get a sort of modern "Dave Debuschurre" infusion and the "coffee and tennis" club hated from the moment it happened. They were silenced by a most improbable streak that now proved to be a tease of sorts. Those who disliked the trade now have their mojo back.

We surged the in season power rankings to no.1 and rather than see it as template for what can be it is being digested and media fueled as "a squandered lead". Its a fans prerogative.

I cannot envision were OG comes back to be Kawahi again, Randle balling out of his mind where we talking about his assists rather than TO's, MitchRob as DPOY, even better was iHarts inspirited passing and defense (Most improved convo) and our beloved big headed Brunson who kicked it up one more notch to perhaps be playing as the top PG in the league at the time. Jules will need surgery when the season is over. It either happens in July after a parade down the Canyon of Heroes or days after his shoulder pops out again. Torn Labrums, even if partial don't heal by itself with proper motion radius needed by a professional basketball player. The Snip it, and sew the whole thing back.
Mitch? He'll be a bit slow like he does after a summer of healing. Perhaps we don't need him to be if iHart can get that heal back to where he can play without fear.

Reality is its a contract year for him and an achilles tear would cost him millions and lost season. takes a year to heal and often another full season to get ones athletic prowess all the way back if it in fact happens. Its not the career ender it used to be. His agent and doctor will make sure his minutes are respected. contract wise this is his career moment. He has a baby coming and that fine wife needs upkeep.

As many have written, this team could reach the ECF's if January can be replicated. A lot of things have to happen including winning thru the play in if need be. Imagine finishing 1 or two then facing a team that got its health back! Makes the NBA exciting in the age of parity.

LivingLegend @ 3/7/2024 10:50 AM
If you assume the winner of 1-8 series will be Celtics.

They get the winner of the 4-5 series in 2nd round - so the brackets are (1-8 and 4-5) on one side and (2-7 and 3-6) on the other side.

If Knicks were to end in 6th that could result in 1st round vs Cavs (3) and you avoid Boston until East Conf. finals.

Way too early for all this but you could make argument that depending on match-up possibilities Knicks better at 6 vs maybe 4 or 5.

Right now I just want to avoid 7 or 8.

Page 1 of 3