The New York Knicks didn’t just win an NBA championship this season. They did something that even Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors couldn’t hold onto: the best postseason point differential in league history.
According to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, the Knicks finished their 2025-26 championship run with a +283 point differential across 19 playoff games. That number tops the +255 mark set by Durant’s Warriors during their famous 16-1 run a decade ago.
Here’s what makes that stat even wilder: New York lost just three games all postseason—and those three losses came by a combined six points. One bad bounce, one missed free throw, and the narrative could look very different. Instead, the Knicks turned every close call into a statement.
How They Stacked Up
The Warriors of 2017 were a known monster. They had Durant, Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green all in their primes. Nobody gave them a real fight until the Finals, and even then, Cleveland managed only one win. That team cruised through the West with a sense of inevitable dominance.
The Knicks took a different path. Their point differential wasn’t built on a cakewalk schedule. Instead, they piled it up in closeout games against Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Cleveland—teams that had pushed them hard earlier in the series. When it mattered most, New York slammed the door.
The Road Crowd Factor
One of the most talked-about elements of this Knicks run was the fan presence. Whether in Atlanta, Philly, or Cleveland, Knicks fans traveled in force. You could hear them in the arena noise. Opposing arenas turned into Madison Square Garden East for four straight rounds.
When the Knicks were actually home, the energy hit another level. Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Spurs became instant history when New York erased a 29-point deficit. The crowd didn’t just cheer—they willed their team back into the game.
“It feels cool. Everyone was pretty excited. I am excited too,” OG Anunoby said after that Game 4 comeback. “But that’s what we are, a team, like a brotherhood. We have each other’s backs. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
What This Means Going Forward
Winning a title is hard. Dominating the playoffs the way the Knicks just did is a once-in-a-generation type of run. They beat the Spurs in five games in the Finals, but the real story is how they handled every challenge along the way.
This team has been building toward something for years. The chemistry, the depth, the defensive identity—it all clicked at the perfect time. And now, they have a trophy and a piece of history that even the 73-win Warriors couldn’t keep.
The Knicks didn’t just win. They rewrote the record book in the process.
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