For much of the season, the reality of the Knicks’ situation was different than the fantasy.
Yes, we all thought that this team would eventually enter the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. The talent is too good, and the competition in the East is frail. New York, though, showed vulnerabilities. Time was needed to adjust to the change in philosophies and principles under a new head coach. Time was needed to make mistakes to see what needed to be rectified.
The Knicks came into this season with sky-high expectations, the type of pressure that forces outsiders to hang on every pass, dribble, shot and defensive assignment. New York hadn’t been perfect through the first month, surely making some feel uneasy. However, the Knicks have won four straight — three decisively and one a back-and-forth contest. They’ve defended with an intensity not always through the first weeks of the season. The offense continues to be potent, whether by way of the initial shot or the follow-up one.
After laying a 116-94 beatdown on the red-hot Raptors on Sunday, the Knicks are second in the East. They feel like a team that is figuring out what it takes to be who they want to be.
“We’re holding each other more accountable,” Jalen Brunson said. “We’re paying attention to detail a little more — we can still do better at that. I think the little things matter more than people think. If we keep believing that and keep doing that, then we’ll keep winning games. Playing in this league, there’s so much talent around the league, the little things can make or break wins and losses. We have to continue to do all that little stuff.”
Communication. Keeping the ball in front of you. Making on-time, on-target passes. 50-50 balls. All of these things can go unseen to the untrained eye, but they’re the qualities that make champions. New York, over the last week, is doing a better job of communicating defensively. That was regularly the first thing that came up when players were asked what’s changed over this four-game win streak.
Players believe they’ve been on a string more defensively as a result of talking more. They all know what is being asked of them by the coaches. Are there still slip-ups? Sure. However, they don’t feel as compounded. It’s not one right after the other after the other.
In this clip, you can see New York execute its “shift” defense by filling the gaps when a Raptor puts the ball on the floor. The highlight of this clip, though, aside from Tyler Kolek being able to both help on Immanuel Quickley’s drive and still recover out to Brandon Ingram in the corner, is when Mikal Bridges picks up Ingram on the baseline drive and points to Kolek to recover out to the relocating Quickley on the wing. New York has everything covered here as Toronto sees the shot clock winding down.
“We’re communicating a lot better,” McBride said. “Tonight, we had a few bumps getting back in transition, but that’s what they do really well, so give credit to them. But I feel like defensively we’re just locked in a lot more.”
They are, even without their best defender in OG Anunoby and one of their better on-ball defender in Landry Shamet, both of whom are out with injuries. McBride, as well as Josh Hart, have greatly picked up the intensity when it comes to on-ball defense. Those two have played with a physicality when guarding one-on-one that feels like it’s permeated throughout the group. Bridges’ gap-help defense has turned defense into easy offense and added an extra layer of oomph to the defense.
Earlier in the season, a lot of New York’s defensive mistakes were a result of poor on-ball defense. A ballhandler would get a defender too easy and it would create an advantage for the opposing offense. As of late, Knicks defenders are applying more disciplined pressure at the point of attack. There’s been more urgency to recover after getting screened.
To simplify it even more: pride has kicked in. New York realized how detrimental its on-ball defense had been. It did something to change it. Mistakes can be good, but only if you learn from them.
“(Assistant coach) Darren Erman talked to me about being more physical on the ball,” Josh Hart said after the Knicks defeated Milwaukee last week. “That’s something I’ve been trying to do the last two, three games. I got to continue to do that and help set the tone, at least while I’m starting, in those positions.”
Offensively, the Knicks are still generating good looks. They’re also very accurate with the good looks. What makes them dangerous, though, is that when they miss, they’re often getting the offensive rebound and second-chance points. New York has done a good job of executing its crashing principles. Against the Raptors, the Knicks had 25 offensive rebounds for 22 second-chance points. Seven of those were from Mitchell Robinson, which is a feat in itself, but also tells you how eager everyone else is to get in on the action.
It’s the little things, just like Brunson said.
The Knicks are doing those more consistently. They’ve been rewarded with results. There are still things to iron out on both sides of the ball for New York, but excelling around the margins can keep the win column growing while the rest catches up.
“I still think we have room for improvement,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “But we did a great job tonight of competing with a team that’s really hot and playing well and finding a way to play Knicks basketball.”