Welcome to an NBA where the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs are only a half-game apart by record, and it is almost one-fourth of the way into the 2019-20 NBA season. The Knicks, at 4-11, were expected to struggle, but the Spurs, at 5-11, have played uncharacteristically poor basketball, losing eight consecutive games.
Yes, those same Gregg Popovich-led Spurs. That is almost unheard of for this consistently successful organization.
Suddenly these teams are on almost equal ground. LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan and even Dejounte Murray are healthy, and most of this roster is similar to the 2018-19 team that pushed the Denver Nuggets to seven games in the postseason.