Knicks missing one crucial element in pursuit of NBAs elite: analysts

The Knicks will get three more chances in April to be more competitive against the two teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings. They are winless in five tries against the Cavaliers and the Celtics this season following consecutive road defeats over the weekend — and 0-7 when you add in two more losses to the Thunder, the leaders in the West. With an average margin of defeat of 20.1 points in those games, is it realistic to expect that gap to be closed this season for a Knicks squad with aspirations of advancing deeper into the playoffs following two straight second-round eliminations? “The first thing I would say is, we all have to be cognizant of the fact that those three teams are doing this to everybody,” longtime ESPN analyst Tim Legler told The Post.“But the Knicks, with the expectation level coming off of last season, then you make the trade for [Karl-Anthony] Towns, that’s now the measuring stick. “How do we stack up to the Celtics? How do we stack up to the Cavs? And even OKC? It clearly has not gone well for them, and for me, what it comes down to is offensively they can go toe-to-toe with those teams.

But the difference is that those three teams have a level that they can go to defensively with their pressure and their team speed and just with their commitment to it that the Knicks just can’t match at that end of the floor.” TNT analyst and former Knicks guard Greg Anthony also acknowledged the third-seeded Knicks are not on the level of the league’s elite. “I never thought of this as a championship-or-bust season for the Knicks, and I do think long term they’ve put themselves in a better position to compete for a title,” Anthony told The Post.“If this season ends early, [Knicks president] Leon Rose and the front office are going to have to figure out why and the other areas to address. “I think by watching these games in particular, they need to be better defensively, they need to improve their depth and t...