If the goal is the NBA Finals, the Knicks are currently walking the straight and narrow path toward that objective with a bit of swagger to start the season.
New York approaches game 10 with a 6-3 record and in the midst of a four-game win streak. The offense has been rejuvenated. Everyone is touching the ball. Everyone is scoring. The shots are, more often than not, of high quality. The Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in basketball. There’s a lot to believe in, a lot to get behind.
Defensively, though, there’s still some work to do. Opposing teams are shooting comfortably against New York. Bigger guards have had success manipulating the defense. The Knicks’ defense isn’t yet at a championship level.
Overall, though, there’s more to like than not like about the Knicks’ start to the season. Most of it appears sustainable, while some aspects are worth monitoring going forward.
Below is a breakdown of some of what I like and don’t like about New York’s start to the season.
(All stats are updated through Tuesday morning, following the Knicks’ Sunday-night win over Brooklyn)
What I like
The shot quality is encouraging
One of the glaring differences between this Knicks team and the one from a season ago is that it doesn’t always look like it’s a chore to put the ball in the basket. Yes, New York was one of the best offenses statistically last season under previous head coach Tom Thibodeau, but anyone who watched that group saw that a lot of the success had to do with the high-level shot-making ability on the roster, led by Jalen Brunson.
This time around, under head coach Mike Brown, the Knicks’ offense has consistently generated open shots from all over the floor, by different players. This team isn’t stressing to put the ball in the basket or expecting a last-second bailout shot.
New York is averaging 42.9 3s per game, which is good for fourth in the NBA. Last year, the Knicks averaged 34.1, which ranked 27th. More than that, though, it’s the types of 3s New York is generating that make this conversation worth having. Per NBA.com, the Knicks are averaging a third-best 18.1 open 3s per game (open is defined by the closest defender being four to six feet away from the shooter). Furthermore, New York ranks 13th in wide-open (closest defender is six or more feet away) 3s per game at 19.6. For comparison, last year’s team averaged 15.3 open 3s per game and 14.5 wide-open 3s per game.
To break the 3-point shooting down even a bit more, the Knicks lead the NBA in corner 3-point attempts per game with 13.6, which is up more than three per game from last season. Since tracking started to take place, no team has ever averaged more than 12 corner 3s per game. New York is on pace to be the first.
Now on to mid-range shooting, the most scoffed at shot in the game. Last year, the Knicks averaged 10.2 per game, which was the sixth-highest mark in the league. This year, the team is only taking 8.0 per game, a number closer to the bottom third in the league than the top third. Lastly, despite the increased 3-point attempts, Brown’s team has maintained a high number of shots in the restricted area, as it currently ranks seventh in volume at 29.2 per game. Last year’s team averaged 27.9 shots per game in the restricted area.
All of that to say, the Knicks’ offense is generating the type of shots you want in today’s NBA.
Brunson as a catch-and-shoot weapon
There was a lot of talk coming into the season about how Brown would utilize his star guard differently. Brown mentioned using Brunson a little bit more off the ball to help get him easier shots and not wear him down with so much responsibility. So far, those words have come to fruition.
Before we dive into some numbers, I do think Brunson has had a good start to the season, despite his overall efficiency being down from last year. He’s made quicker decisions with the ball in his hands, has gotten his teammates open shots, both directly and as hockey assists and still been able to do the things that make him great as a player. However, as it pertains to his off-ball work, Brunson has really had success as a catch-and-shoot weapon so far this season.
A year ago, only 46.1 percent of Brunson’s 3-point attempts were assisted. This year, that number has jumped up to 58.3 percent. With nine games in the book, Brunson has already taken 28 catch-and-shoot 3s. He took 121 in 65 games last season. He’s even doing things like relocating to the corners.
Brunson, who is shooting 50 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s this season, is one of the best shooters in basketball. Getting him a higher frequency of cleaner and different 3-point looks, as opposed to off-the-dribble 3s, always seemed like a smart thing to do.
True scorers can score from all over, in different ways. Brunson is one of the best scorers this league has to offer.
The offensive rebounding dominance
I wrote about this recently, so I won’t spend too much time here, but this team is really making its presence felt on the offensive glass.
It’s not just Mitchell Robinson, who is leading the league in offensive rebounds per game. The whole team has done its part.
Brown’s system has “crash zones,” which means different areas on the floor where he wants players to chase a rebound from. One of those spots is the corners, where guys like Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have had success getting their squad second-chance opportunities.
If New York is going to continue to shoot how it has been over the last few games and get the offensive rebound when it does miss, this offense is going to be one of the best, if not the best, in the NBA at some point.
Other things I like so far…
- OG Anunoby’s quick trigger shooting the ball
- Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging a career-best seven free-throw attempts per game
- Josh Hart is still doing Josh Hart things, no matter his change in role
- Mikal Bridges is averaging a career-best 5.3 assists per game
What I don’t like
The Knicks need to up the tempo still
After wins, we often hear players and Brown talking about how this offense can still go to another level. One way to do that is to pick up the pace.
According to the NBA’s definition of pace, the Knicks are still one of the league’s slowest teams, despite Brown wanting to change that when he took over. However, New York is progressing, even if only a little. For example, the Knicks are averaging 45.7 field-goal attempts per game with 15-to-seven seconds left on the shot clock, which ranks second in the NBA. Last year, they averaged 42.8 field goals in that time frame.
The issue is that the Knicks still take a lot of shots late in the shot clock, just as they did last year. During the 2024-25 campaign, the Knicks averaged 9.6 shot attempts per game with four seconds or less on the clock (the fourth highest) and a league-high 9.9 shot attempts per game with between seven and four seconds left on the clock. At this point in the new season, New York’s numbers are essentially the same, with an average of 9.9 shots with four seconds or less on the clock and 9.0 shots with between seven and four seconds left on the shot clock.
Going into the season, I wasn’t sure this cast of players would be able to consistently play with the pace Brown wanted them to. So far, that has been true. The Knicks are playing with more purpose and more directness in the half court, which makes the pace not appear as bad when watching as the statistics suggest.
The 3-point defense is worrisome
Thanks to a meeting with the laughable Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, the Knicks no longer have the worst 3-point defense in the NBA. Instead, they have the second-worst 3-point defense in the NBA.
Teams are shooting a lot of 3s against New York and hitting them, per NBA.com, at a 39.4 percent clip.
Three-point defense has been an issue for the Knicks before Brown took over as coach, and I think they’re better equipped to handle their struggles from there now because they’re shooting a high volume of 3s on the other end of the floor. New York is not losing the math game as badly as it did at times a season ago.
Still, the Knicks have to clean this up if they hope to compete for an NBA championship.
Brown said earlier this week that he hasn’t been happy with his team regarding contesting opposing 3-pointers this season. He said it is something that they track and has not graded well for his group this season.
Brown’s gap-help defense has its benefits. It takes away driving lanes and keeps opponents out of the paint — New York is one of the best in the league at not allowing opponents to score inside. However, it also forces players to be sharp in recovering back out to the 3-point line after a kick-out pass by a ballhandler and to be disciplined in their rotations. The Knicks just haven’t consistently done those things through the first nine games.
As you can see above, Anunoby shifts over to help close the driving lane on Chicago’s Josh Giddey. The Bulls’ guard has nowhere to go but the over help makes his read simple. Isaac Okoro slides down to the corner to make Anunoby’s contest path longer and he gets up a clean look from 3.
More Miles McBride with the starters
The Knicks currently have four lineups that have played at least 20 minutes together, and only one of those (Brunson-Shamet-Bridges-Anunoby-Towns) has a negative net rating.
Now, McBride did miss a few games due to personal reasons earlier in the season, and that’s probably why that same group, but with McBride in for Shamet, has played fewer minutes. With that said, Brown does tend to go to Shamet first off the bench, as he usually replaces Robinson, and the Knicks lean into a five-out offense.
I’d like to see more of McBride with those four starters going forward. He’s one of the best point-of-attack defenders on the team; he pushes the pace when he has the ball and is more of a knockdown catch-and-shoot guy than Shamet. Don’t get me wrong, Shamet has been solid this season and I understand why Brown likes to play him. Yet, every lineup with McBride in it tends to be a positive.
Brunson usually plays the entire first quarter, and with McBride being the most obvious backup point guard option on the roster, I do understand why McBride isn’t the first player off the bench. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing Brown tweak his rotation a little to get McBride in sooner and allow him to play more often with the other starters not named Robinson when the team wants to lean into five-out spacing.
Other things I don’t like so far…
- Guerschon Yabusele has, rightfully, really struggled to even crack the rotation in New York
- Karl-Anthony Towns isn’t shooting enough 3s
- Bigger, ball-handling guards like Giddey, Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George have given Knicks defenders trouble
