5 questions facing the Knicks with 27 games remaining in the regular season
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson prepares for a game against the Pistons on Jan. 5, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. Credit: Getty Images/Gregory Shamus
The Knicks made it to the All-Star break having won 10 of their past 12 games. At 35-20, they are a win short of their total after 55 games last season, when they played their best during the postseason. That will be the goal again this season, but there are questions that must be answered if they are to repeat last year's late-season success.
1. Could Jalen Brunson really be an MVP?
Mike Brown has repeatedly made the case for Brunson, insisting he has all the characteristics, and that he does, well, MVP things. Brunson has only missed five games so he should reach the minimum 65-game qualification, a benchmark that could thin out the competition. Brunson has some gaudy numbers — he ranks 10th in points per game — and earned Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December. He’s been top 12 in MVP balloting in each of the last three seasons. His defense could be better — but part of that is a bigger team issue. What he really needs is to take the team to loftier heights. Voting takes place at the end of the regular season, and if the Knicks aren’t the top seed in the East it’s a hard argument to make over Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Boston’s Jaylen Brown or Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, if one of their team's takes the top spot.
2. Is the defense truly fixed?
When studying statistics in the NBA, it is always done with a cautionary note about small sample sizes. So the real question for the Knicks is, do we believe the last 12 games or the 43 before that? The Knicks were the 18th-ranked defense before Jan. 21 — and 28th in an 11-game stretch that ran directly to that date — when they held Brooklyn to 66 points and started a stretch of 12 games leading up to the break. Since then the Knicks have not just been the best defense in the league with a defensive rating of 101.4, but the margin to the next team (Detroit) is larger than the margin from second to 14th. In those 12 games the Knicks held the opposition to 101 or fewer points in eight and two others were OT and double-OT games. The Knicks have talked about communication and a simplification of the defensive schemes by assistant coach Brendan O’Connor, who was brought in to oversee the defense. What might make you believe that it’s real is that they’ve done it with their best defender, OG Anunoby, sidelined for the last four games.
3. Has KAT figured out his role?
The most confounding part of this season has been figuring out what to make of Karl-Anthony Towns in the revamped Knicks system under Brown. His numbers are down almost across the board — scoring, shooting percentage inside and outside the arc. He entered the season with questions about his role and how he would fit as Brown tried to shift his position. Brown moved him back to center and the offense hasn’t picked up, but Towns has seemed to find a way to help even while the Knicks wait for his offense to recover. In the last eight games ahead of the All-Star break he jumped to 14.8 rebounds per game, including back-to-back games of at least 20 boards. Both Towns and Brown have spoken about KAT needing to make the biggest adjustment this season. So has he adjusted?
4. Do the latest pieces salvage the bench?
The Knicks, after complaints about the use of the bench last season, were intent on improving the depth. They worked around the fringes of the salary cap to sign Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson was expected to provide the sort of offensive punch off the bench they lacked last year, but it’s mostly been a struggle. The team is worse defensively with him on the floor and his offense is spotty. Yabusele never found his footing and was moved at the deadline in a deal that eventually netted the Knicks Jose Alvarado. Then the Knicks were able to sign Jeremy Sochan, a former lottery pick of the Spurs who is a versatile defender. Alvarado has already shown he can fill a need with his energy and tenacious defense on the perimeter. Pairing them with Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and, when he returns from surgery, Deuce McBride, the Knicks have a group that can change a game on the defensive end.
5. Can they end the title drought?
The only real question for the Knicks is with the changes — starting with the coach and then going through the bench — can they go further than when Tom Thibodeau took them to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. The goal is an NBA championship for the first time since 1973. The good news is the path seems wide open. The Pistons have been the best in the East and while they have dominated the Knicks in two meetings this season, we know from last season there is a big difference between the regular season, when the Knicks were 0-4 against Boston, and the postseason, when they knocked off the defending champs. This year’s defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, have appeared vulnerable. If the other questions are answered — the defense is real, Towns has found his place, the bench will boost the team — the Knicks have their best shot in decades.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
