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Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are approaching the upcoming first-round series against Atlanta with the right level of equanimity, not overstating it or larding it with too much importance on one hand, and not taking the No. 6-seeded Hawks too lightly, either.  This is a team that went on an 11-game winning streak in the second half of this season, after all, and closed the season at 19-5 down the stretch.

At the same time, the Knicks know what’s up as the playoffs get ready to start. This is no longer a relatively new team that has just been pieced together and is taking time to gel–NBA rosters don’t often get that luxury in the modern game, under current CBA rules. This is a Knicks team that was expected to compete for a championship even before owner James Dolan said it publicly last month, and was put under that much more pressure after he did.

For the Knicks, the stakes in these playoffs are not just, win or go home. They’re win or see the current roster ripped up considerably.

Karl-Anthony Towns: ‘Regular Season Doesn’t Mean Anything’

And the Knicks know this. Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns mentioned it in practice this week, when told reporters players are well aware that a deep postseason run is necessary.

“It’s great that we put ourselves in this position, to be in the playoffs in this position, but at the end of the day, the regular season doesn’t mean anything if we don’t capitalize on this opportunity,” he said. “This is the time. We’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to execute and we’ve gotta capitalize on this opportunity. At the end of the day, we’ll be judged on what we do on this run.”

Knicks Already Fired Their Coach

And they will be judged on what they do not do, as well. Anyone who has watched the NBA–or sports in general–knows that the first step in addressing an underachievement by a team is to fire the coach. The Knicks did that last season with Tom Thibodeau, replacing him with Mike Brown. The team got better, moving from No. 5 in offensive rating (117.3) to No. 4 (118.7) and from No. 13 in defensive rating (113.8) to No. 7 (112.3).

But all that yielded just two more wins, from 51 to 53. Thibodeau got the Knicks to the conference finals last year, and if the Knicks fizzle out there again this year, changes are expected.

Roster Moves Would Follow Failure

Already, we have seen three established superstars tabbed as potential additions for the Knicks this offseason–LeBron James if he leaves the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard if the Clippers put him on the block and Giannis Antetokounmpo, assuming he reiterates his desire to be dealt to the Knicks.

If the Knicks win a championship, you can forget all that. They’ll keep the band together. If they reach the Finals and get beaten by a juggernaut like the Thunder, that might well be enough to keep the band together.

But if they just match last year’s East finals trip? It will be time to urgently explore acquiring the likes of James, Leonard or Antetokounmpo, and ship out some combination of Towns, Mikal Bridges and/or OG Anunoby.

They all like playing for the Knicks–star players love Madison Square Garden. But  if they can’t top what they did last year, they won’t all be playing for the Knicks for long.