These first four games of the season have been pretty weird. The weirdest part is that the Knicks have won all of them by double-digits-- this still just makes me anxious and wary of whatever horror awaits us-- but the distribution of games has been equally bizarre. New York opened the season with three games in four nights (and it would have been four in five if the season opener in Brooklyn hadn't been cane'd out). Since then, they've pretty much stopped playing basketball. Friday's win over the Mavericks-- already their third home game-- was sandwiched between three-day breaks, which allowed New York ample time for extra practice and us ample time to navel-gaze and contemplate existence as fans of an undefeated team.

Well, that's over. Beginning tonight in Orlando, the Knicks' schedule turns dense and nomadic. They'll play four games a week like normal adults, and they'll do plenty of traveling along the way. Six of the Knicks' seven games are on the road, including this week's bitch of a back-to-back in San Antonio and Memphis. Looking further ahead, twelve of the next seventeen games are away before the Knicks return to the Garden for a long mid-December home stand.

The next few weeks will be a test of New York's health, depth, preparation, and just their overall viability as a contender. They may even lose a game at some point. BRACE YOURSELVES.