The New York Knicks have moved up to No. 5 in the Eastern Conference in this week's SBNation.com NBA Power Rankings. The Knicks, winners of 13 of their last 14 games, were No. 9 a week ago.
Even with the Knicks having beaten the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, our friends at SBNation.com could not resist a poke at the Knicks mostly soft schedule throughout their recent run of success.
Don't get me wrong. Thirteen wins in their last 14 games is a nice feat. And Amar'e is playing out of his mind and getting some great help from the likes of Felton and Chandler. But I'd still like to see this team play some of the more elite clubs in the league. (No, the Raptors don't count.)
So let's just say I'm slightly looking forward to tomorrow night's tilt versus the Boston Celtics.
We will have a much better read on the Knicks by Friday night. They host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday and and the Miami Heat on Friday. What do the Knicks have to do to legitimize their 16-9 record? I don't know for sure, but I would say playing two quality games and winning at least one of them would go a long way toward achieving that goal.
The 6-18 New Jersey Nets are No. 11 in the Eastern Conference. The most amazing thing? There are actually four teams looked at as being worse. Detroit (12th), Philadelphia (13th), Cleveland (14th) and Washington (15th).
Boston is tops in the East, followed by Miami.
In the Western Conference, San Antonio, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers hold the top three spots.