6 Biggest Knicks surprises of 2022-23 regular season

To say that the 2022-23 season has been surprising for the New York Knicks would be, surprisingly, an understatement.

Historically, the Knicks undergo a woeful regular season and miss the playoffs, and therefore that has been the expected norm going into most seasons. But, thankfully this year’s team wasn’t expected to be good and they haven’t just proven that incorrect, but they have even exceeded those expectations.

The Knicks being a top-10 caliber team has been a nice surprise

Depending on who you ask, there are as many as 10 teams in the NBA this year with a shot at the title, maybe more. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Knicks are championship contenders, there is no denying they have been one of the best teams in the association.

Vegas had the Knicks winning just 39 games, which they surpassed with 13 games remaining. Even the most (realistically) optimistic Knicks fans thought this team would be at best the sixth seed in the East and at the very least in the play-in tournament. Instead, they are likely to clinch either the fifth or sixth seed. That doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but in context, the East has been a monster this year; it is more than impressive that New York is in the fight with the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers at this point in the season.

This team has continuously improved as the season has gone on. They are 23-15 since the new year and have the third-highest win percentage in the league since the All-Star break. New York currently has the eighth most wins in basketball, the fifth-best offensive rating (116.5), and the 16th least PPG given up to opponents (114.5) since the All-Star Break.