National TV, big matchups and lots of pressure

The Knicks schedule was released in drips earlier this week, with their season opener and Christmas contest — both against the Cavs — serving as the highlights. 

With the entire slate announced Thursday afternoon, there’s an opportunity to probe the 82 games further. 

Here are five takeaways: 

Big national exposure

The Knicks are in a four-way tie for the most national TV games this season, joining the Lakers, Warriors and Thunder with 34 each. They’re the only Eastern Conference team in the top seven, an expected development given the franchise’s permeating popularity and their conference finals run. National TV has a different definition given the NBA’s new media rights deal and includes contests on any of NBC, Peacock, Amazon Prime, ABC and ESPN. It’s not a good advertisement for local cable that nearly half the games will be broadcast elsewhere.