Knicks Schedule Release: How Many Wins for New York?

The New York Knicks are projected to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season.

The New York Knicks have been handed their schedule and now they know the who, when and where of the teams they will face throughout the season. While this doesn't change a whole lot, the schedule release provides an opportunity to see what the team's win-loss record will look like on a game-by-game basis.

Bleacher Report projects that the Knicks will be 48-34, one win better than this past season and tied for fourth-best in the Eastern Conference with the Cleveland Cavaliers (behind Boston, Miami, and Milwaukee with 50 wins each.

"The Knicks took an unusual path to the second-best offense in the NBA last season. They were 19th in the league in effective field-goal percentage, but their dominance of the offensive boards (they finished second in offensive rebounding percentage) more than made up for that," Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey explains. "The players largely responsible for that are back."

"Among the 367 (players) with at least 500 minutes in 2022-23, Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jericho Sims, Josh Hart, and Julius Randle ranked third, 11th, 13th, 92nd, and 104th, respectively, in offensive rebounds per 75 possessions Add their bruising interior play to the returns of Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes, as well as the arrival of Donte DiVincenzo, and it's easy to see the Knicks clearing this over and improving on last season's 47 wins."

There are ways for the Knicks to get beyond 50 wins, but that will likely require a much-needed fifth-year jump from small forward RJ Barrett.

"Getting much more than that likely depends on RJ Barrett, who's been one of the league's least efficient scorers over the course of his four seasons," Bailey continues. "If Barrett can take a leap forward with his shotmaking, New York could be in the hunt for 50 wins."

Barrett, like the rest of the Knicks, has room for improvement, and if any of these pieces to the puzzle can take the next step in development, New York could be a team nobody wants to face on the schedule.

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You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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