Some notes:

*  The mini-revival can be traced to the 16th game of the season, a close loss to the Nuggets, and has continued with wins over the Suns and Hawks, all very good teams. The Knicks did well with points in the paint with 54, 50 and 60 points inside respectively (their average in the first 15 games was 38.8 points inside). In those 3 games, 3 point shooting was also improved: 38 of 87, or 43.6 percent.  (average in first 15 games: 30.7%.) It's fair to say that the ability of the Knicks to get inside (through some wrinkles in the pick and roll game and other offensive tweaks) opened up the outside game, and better three point shooting in turn has created more opportunities for penetration.

*  The shooting of individual players still seems to fluctuate considerably from game to game, but I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Al Harrington shooting better makes the team better, no matter how much his ball-dominant, pass-challenged ways infuriate fans. In the infamous 1-9 start, Al shot an abymsal 17.8% from beyond the arc in ten games, with only one game where he made more than one 3 pointer. In the most recent five games, he's shot 10 for 24 on three pointers, a much healthier 41.7 percent. 

*  The Nets and the Blazers represent a different kind of challenge from the Knicks' recent opponents in that -- outside of the Magic -- only the Nuggets were in the top half of the league in defensive efficiency (14th). The Nets and Blazers are 12th and 9th in the league in that area, though the Blazers' defense will suffer from the loss of Oden. It will be interesting to see if the Knicks can continue to execute and impose their pace in what could be slower, uglier games.