In the entire 80-year history of the NBA, only three champions have started their title defense with an 0-3 start the next season: The 1969 Celtics, 2011 Mavericks, and this year's Knicks, who've taken losses to the Sixers, Celtics and, on Sunday night, a Magic team that had also come in winless and was playing without Paolo Banchero. Last year's title was the product of a legendary postseason run, but this start has provided an opening for all the skeptics to question its sustainability. Were last year's Knicks really that good?
They only won 53 regular-season games. They trailed against the Spurs in the Finals for more than 70% of the total minutes played before pulling off multiple basketball miracles. There was, of course, the largest comeback in Finals history (29 points in Game 4).
The Victor Wembanyama pass off his teammate's back in Game 2. The 16-point rally in the clincher. The Knicks had to overcome a double-digit deficit in every game and Jalen Brunson had to turn into a fourth-quarter folk hero -- which he did, and all credit to him and them, but again, is this a repeatable formula in a much tougher Eastern Conference than the one the Knicks navigated a year ago?
Fair or not, these are the questions this 0-3 start is giving life to. Everyone from Knicks diehards to haters to the few objective ones in between want to know, what's wrong with the Knicks? Was last year a one-year, team-of-destiny wonder, or is this just an early blip on the radar?
Let's examine what's behind this 0-3 start. This is a popular one, but statistically, it holds little water. Of the 26 NBA champions this century, only the 2006-07 Miami Heat won fewer than 51 games in the season following their championship (not counting the strike- and COVID-shortened seasons), and only two -- those same Heat and the 2002-03 Lakers -- have started with a sub-.500 record through the first 20 games.
Do the math, and you'll see that defending champions are a combined 366-154 through the first 20 games of the season following their title this century. A 70% win percentage to start the following season with only one sub-51 win team lends zero credibility to the hangover theory. If you're thinking about a repeat, which was already unlikely (it hasn't happened since the 2018 Warriors, it's not looking good.
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