beyond the back page What the Knicks’ struggles against top teams mean for the pre-playoff phobias By Jared Schwartz Published March 31, 2026, 7:45 a.m. ET Shai Gilgeous-Alexander defends Jalen Brunson during the Thunder's win over the Knicks on March 29, 2026. AP Is this a concerning trend that could be indicative of a larger issue?
The Knicks, after winning seven games in a row against NBA bottom-feeders, have now lost two in a row as soon as their opponents increased in quality. And it wasn’t as if the Knicks were overly dominant when they played the tankers — they were made to sweat and escaped a few of those games with narrow wins.
It’s been more than three weeks since the Knicks beat a team over .500 — that was the Nuggets way back on March 6. Since the start of March, the Knicks are 3-5 against teams over .500. And against the NBA’s elite in each conference — the Thunder and Pistons — they’re 0-5 this season.
