The Knicks are four wins away from the NBA Finals for the second season in a row.
This time last year, New York was coming off a thrilling upset series win over the defending champion Celtics and took on the Pacers in the conference finals. But the orange and blue fell to Indiana in six games; tired legs from a full season and playoff run under Tom Thibodeau’s demanding coaching style didn’t prove enough to overcome Tyrese Haliburton’s magical run. Consequently, the franchise opted to move on from Thibodeau despite several very successful years, and Mike Brown was tabbed as his replacement.
Thus the Knicks entered this season with the second-most expensive roster in the league and enormous expectations. Just how enormous was (surprisingly) laid out in plain view by owner James Dolan in a rare interview in January.
“I'd say we want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals,” he said. “This is sports; anything can happen. Getting to the Finals, we absolutely have to do. Winning the Finals, we should do.”
The time has come to make good on that proclamation, and New York is in good shape to do so. After going down 2–1 against the Hawks in the first round, the Knicks have been utterly dominant. They obliterated Atlanta in Game 6 to move onto the second round before summarily dismissing the 76ers without breaking a sweat in a four-game sweep.
The vibes are tremendous in Manhattan. The Knicks look as good as they have all season long and took care of business so quickly they must wait to see which of the Pistons and Cavaliers will be their opponent in the conference finals. It’s the best possible problem to have in the postseason.
But soon New York will get its draw and try to make it back to the NBA Finals. The team’s path through the playoffs so far has given us a great look at how they win basketball games and the heights they can reach when everyone is clicking. So, even without knowing their opponent, we have a good idea of what has to happen in order for the orange and blue to win the East.
Here are the four things the Knicks have to do in order to return to the Finals for the first time since 1999.
Get OG Anunoby healthy
Anunoby suffered a hamstring injury in Game 2 against the 76ers and it’s the only thing that hasn’t gone according to plan so far in these playoffs. The top-tier defender was enjoying a great postseason up until that point, ranking second in points per game on the Knicks with 21.4 on some deadly efficiency numbers—Anunoby is shooting over 60% from the field and over 50% from three. Pair that with his typically excellent defense more akin to an immovable wall of steel on the perimeter and few players can claim to be as valuable as Anunoby has been this postseason.
The hamstring injury was a bump in the road. It doesn’t seem very serious, fortunately. The 28-year-old was declared day-to-day after getting hurt and on Wednesday ESPN reported New York has “optimism” he’ll be ready to roll for Game 1 of the ECF (whenever that might be). So his status is trending positive. But there’s no overstating how important Anunoby is as the roster’s best, most consistent two-way player—having him at or near 100% is crucial to any championship hopes.
Keep playing through Karl-Anthony Towns
KAT has been playing great basketball across the board these playoffs, but his evolution into the fulcrum of the Knicks’ offense has been key to their success. He’s scoring 17.4 points per night on 58% shooting from the floor and leads New York with 6.6 assists per game (nearly double his regular-season mark of 3.0 per night). What’s more, the NBA’s tracking stats have KAT averaging more frontcourt touches per game than Jalen Brunson. That doesn’t mean Brunson isn’t the offense’s top threat and shouldn’t have the ball in his hands when it matters. But the benefits of running the offense through Towns more often are obvious.
First, it ensures the big man keeps attacking on offense. The Knicks’ worst stretches this year were marked by Towns getting iced out of the offense and going long stretches without taking a shot. The best version of the New York offense can be seen when Towns is actively hunting for points because so much of the defense’s focus must be directed towards Brunson and the constantly-cutting Josh Hart. That gives Towns a ton of opportunity to score and keeping him aggressive opens up the floor for everyone else—as seen by his great assist numbers. Second, it ensures KAT stays engaged. His career-long defensive issues aren’t going to disappear, but the mistakes are much fewer and farther between when he’s focused on that end—which has proven difficult if he isn’t involved in the offense. It’s not ideal but the Knicks have had to work with it and found a successful formula.
They should not and really cannot abandon that formula. Brunson is a certified playoff bucket but the more Towns can take off his plate the better off New York will be.
Stay locked-in defensively
All the points in the world won’t matter in the end if the Knicks can’t defend. So far, they’ve been excellent on that end in the playoffs.
Through two rounds New York ranks second in defensive rating among all playoff teams, behind only the Spurs and their Defensive Player of the Year center. The orange and blue are holding opponents to a clean 101 points per game, second to only the Pistons, and are limiting those opponents to 44.1% shooting from the floor (fourth this postseason). In the last six games the Knicks have held opposing offenses to fewer than 100 points four times; they did so 17 times over the 82-game regular season. It’s been a tremendous group effort on that end. Despite the creative schemes Brown has to draw up to ensure Brunson doesn’t get picked on, and despite KAT’s history of lapses on that end, the roster has come together to guard their yard with pride on every possession.
The best proof of that doesn’t lay in any advanced stats, but in their first-round turnaround. The Hawks went up 2–1 on the Knicks thanks to CJ McCollum roasting this defense to a crisp over the first three games of the playoffs; he put up 27 points per game on 51% shooting from the floor. In the last three games? New York shut him down completely. McCollum scored 11.3 points per game as the Knicks ripped off consecutive wins to eliminate the Hawks. That’s not just playing better—that’s an attitude adjustment and it finally led to the roster playing up to their significant defensive potential.
Continue pressing the right bench buttons
Brown has plenty of options off the bench for the Knicks but didn’t always use them correctly during the regular season. He’s done an excellent job of that this playoff run. Between Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson, Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet, Brown has a button to push for just about any situation. Need some size on the glass? Robinson, come on down. Need some backcourt pressure and shot-making from deep? It’s McBride time. Up and down the bench New York has guys with different but overlapping skillsets who can turn the tide of any game with their respective energies.
It’s been impressive to see given Brown’s juggling in that regard didn’t always pan out in the regular season. But he’s struck the right balance at the perfect time. McBride leads all bench players with 20 minutes per game, as he should given his valuable three-and-D skillset at the two-guard position. Robinson is near 15 minutes per night and could probably help with more minutes, but Brown is forced to pick and choose his spots given the free throw issues; he’s done a solid job of that so far, with Robinson’s +7.3 ranking second among bench players. The rest of the guys may or may not play depending on the moment, which is how it should be. The Knicks’ starting five is loaded with talent and Brown doesn’t have to play an eight-man rotation. Instead he’s playing a seven-man rotation with Clarkson, Alvarado and Shamet floating as needed.
That’s quality management of talent. The Brunsons and KATs and Anunobys will win the Knicks a title but they won’t be within striking distance without bench production; this year’s roster has proven capable of that, but only if Brown puts them in a position to succeed. If he can continue to do so New York will enjoy a great balance that was missing last season—and shrinking the rotation to six players is always on the table as a break-in-case-of-emergency option.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Four Things the Knicks Need to Do in Order to Make the NBA Finals for First Time Since 1999.
