The Knicks, No. 5 in this week's Power Rankings, have had the NBA's best defensive rating since mid-January
Mar 4, 2026 at 1:24 pm ET • 1 min read
If you haven't been paying attention, the narrative that the Knicks can't play defense has been taking quite the hit recently. New York owns the league's best defense, by an appreciable margin, over the last seven weeks.
Does that mean that kind of defense will carry into the playoffs? Not necessarily. Teams are much more intent on attacking weaknesses in the postseason and Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are still that.
But the Knicks are doing well to keep Towns out of the middle of the floor, where he can look positively hopeless in drop-coverage space, and OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson plus all those wings and Jose Alvarado harassing the ball can cover a lot.
Also, this Hornets thing is for real, and Denver continues to own a top-10 spot despite the failings against good teams because we know what they are when they are healthy. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson need to come back before we can officially declare them in danger.
- Note: As a general Power Rankings rule, we're going to try to strike a balance between what we've seen in the last week, the season as a whole so far, and what can reasonably be expected to play out over the rest of the season. This week there is a greater emphasis on that last factor after the trade deadline has passed and given us a clear picture of where every roster officially stands.
- We will not go so far as to rank these teams based on championship expectations, because in that case it would take a lot more to alter, at least in tiers, the generally accepted hierarchy. Winning matters, and it will get you on the move up this board form week to week. But if you're beating bad teams, just as an example, and probably playing a little above your head, it's not necessarily going to be reflected in a completely commensurate climb up the rankings. Or vice versa.
