The Knicks hit the halfway level of the 82-game season with the third-best file within the Jap Convention and the fifth-best in the whole NBA.
Tom Thibodeau usually says — and reiterated as a lot following Monday’s dwelling loss to the Pistons — that he’s striving for each day enchancment, with the objective to peak on the finish of the season in time for the beginning of the playoffs.
“There’s lots of challenges all through the course of the season, so there’s ups and downs, and you must deal with that,” Thibodeau stated after the Knicks misplaced for the fifth time in seven video games following a nine-game profitable streak. “You’ve bought to get by issues collectively, however you by no means can lose sight of how essential it’s to enhance each day, after which hopefully on the finish you’re enjoying your greatest basketball.
“There’s nonetheless lots of issues that we are able to do higher that we now have to lock into.”
Listed here are 5 areas by which the Knicks (26-15) most want to enhance over the ultimate 41 regular-season video games, starting with Wednesday’s highway sport towards the banged-up 76ers:
Guarding the 3-point line
With two 3-pointers transformed within the ultimate minute by Detroit’s Malik Beasley the newest examples, the Knick personal the sixth-worst defensive proportion from past the arc within the league at 37.3 %. This shouldn’t be the case with robust perimeter defenders equivalent to OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and reserve Miles McBride within the rotation.
Extra offensive consistency
The Knicks have already got performed 10 video games by which they transformed fewer than 10 3-pointers, they usually misplaced seven of these video games. Jalen Brunson is in a 13-for-62 outdoors funk (21.0 %) over his previous 12 appearances, together with six of seven misses from deep Monday evening. However that quantity drops to fifteen.4 % in the event you take out a 5-for-10 exhibiting in his 44-point efficiency towards the Bucks on Sunday.
Inside D
With heart Karl-Anthony Cities enjoying 34.7 minutes per sport — his most since 2017-18 in Minnesota — the Knicks rank twelfth within the NBA in factors allowed within the paint at 48.4 per sport. The eventual return of Mitchell Robinson (1.9 profession blocks per sport) ought to assist, however the 7-footer won’t be again earlier than the Feb. 6 commerce deadline since he nonetheless hasn’t resumed practising and even operating at full pace.
Youth gone wild
The Pistons are younger and lengthy and athletic and now have defeated the Knicks twice. Thibodeau must discover a higher solution to fight this kind of workforce, as evidenced by further losses just lately towards the Rockets, the Hawks, the Magic and the Thunder (twice), though few opposing groups have been capable of get previous West-leading OKC.
Discover one other bench piece
Maybe Robinson helps to rectify this want, however then once more, he isn’t more likely to drastically improve the workforce’s dead-last 20.2 bench factors per sport except Thibodeau higher balances the playing-time disparity. The Knicks starters are logging essentially the most minutes per sport (36.2) throughout the league and the reserves the fewest (11.9).
Thibodeau principally has gone with an eight-man rotation within the first half, though McBride, Cam Payne, Treasured Achiuwa and Landry Shamet mixed for 45 minutes towards the Pistons. Rookies Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti and Pacome Dadiet nonetheless haven’t secured common roles.
“We bought greater than sufficient. Now we have to discover a solution to get that achieved,” Thibodeau stated. “Once more, it comes all the way down to a one-possession sport, principally. We fell quick. We’ve bought to check out it and see what we are able to do higher and proceed to combat to win each possession in each sport. You by no means know which possession it’s that makes a distinction, so get locked in and prepare for Philly.”