Knicks Among NBA's Top 5 Heading Into Playoffs

The New York Knicks have just two more games to go until the playoffs, where they are hoping to make a deep run for the third year in a row.

The last two years saw the Knicks exit in the second round, just before the Conference Finals or the "Final Four."

CBS Sports writer Colin Ward-Henninger believes the Knicks are just outside of that threshold, placing them at No. 5 in his final power rankings before the end of the regular season.

"The Knicks are going to finish with roughly the same record as last season, but things obviously feel quite different with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. All that matters to them right now, however, is that Jalen Brunson is back in time for the start of the postseason. He's averaged 21 points and eight assists in his first two games since returning from a nasty ankle injury," Ward-Henninger writes.

The only teams that rank higher than the Knicks are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets — the only teams with a better record than New York.

The Knicks are slated to face a gauntlet in the playoffs, and if they want to win their first championship in over 50 years, they will likely have to face three of the teams above to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

The first round matchup will likely come against the Detroit Pistons, a team that won just 14 games last season and haven't won a playoff game since George W. Bush was the sitting president. The Pistons will come into that series hungry, but the Knicks are expected to be the favorite.

After that, things get more difficult with a matchup looming against the Celtics, who are slated to be No. 2. Considering the fact that the Knicks haven't beaten the Celtics this season, it will be a tall task to win one game against them, let alone four to advance.

If New York can get out of that series against Boston, a matchup against Cleveland, who the team has yet to beat this season, potentially awaits.

If the Knicks are lucky to advance past there, a date with the Thunder, the league's best team this season, is the likely matchup, where they would be a massive underdog.

The Knicks are right there in the thick of things among the best teams in the league, but it's clear there is a difference between them and the others.

Make sure you bookmark Knicks on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns as and so much more!