Knicks were expected to dominate, but that hasn't happened yet
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns is defended by Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney in the first half at Barclays Center on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
IIs the Eastern Conference better than anyone thought?
Or are the Knicks not as good as we all projected?
While one month into the season is way too early to start waving the panic flag, the Knicks are not dominating the conference the way many predicted they would.
The Knicks did what they had to do to beat a bad Nets team, 113-100, on Monday night at Barclays Center. Karl-Anthony Towns had 37 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 27 points. Josh Hart stepped up defensively and had 12 rebounds.
Still, the Nets are 3-14. They don’t have a superstar. What they mostly have is a bunch of guys you’ve never heard of. This is a team the Knicks were supposed to roll over, and it took them three quarters to take a commanding lead.
Right now, the Knicks remain a work in progress. They are 10-6, one win more than they had through 16 games last season. Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland and Miami all have better records than the Knicks, which is not exactly what most envisioned after Boston and Indiana lost their best players for the season to Achilles injuries.
With those two teams out of the way, it was assumed that Cleveland and the Knicks would be playing in the Eastern Conference finals, with teams jockeying for position on a lower tier behind them.
Well, it turns out that the Knicks aren’t the only team that was looking to take advantage of Boston’s and Indiana’s misfortune. Detroit (15-2) has taken a major leap forward with Cade Cunningham playing at a superstar level and center Jalen Duren an early candidate for most improved player of the year. Toronto (13-5), which entered Monday on an eight-game winning streak, may lack a superstar but has a pretty good starting five. And honestly, should anyone really be surprised that Erik Spoelstra has Miami in the mix?
The Knicks, on paper, are better than all of these teams. When they’re clicking on all cylinders the way they were during a chunk of their five-game winning streak this month, their offense under coach Mike Brown might be the best in the league.
Their defense, however, continues to be a problem. The Knicks’ defensive rating of 118.8 points per 100 minutes played ranks 18th in the league, which isn’t horrible but isn’t impressive, considering that the Knicks have played some pretty low-scoring opponents.
Where the Knicks really have to be concerned is on the perimeter, where they are ranked second worst in the league.
Bombs away would be an apt title for any scouting report for teams playing the Knicks. Opponents are attempting and making a lot of three-pointers. Knicks opponents are averaging 38.9 three-point attempts per game, fifth most in the league. The Nets attempted 48 threes and might have made the game a little closer if Michael Porter Jr. hadn’t gone 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Just as concerning for the Knicks is the fact that entering the game, opponents were making 15.3 of those attempts. The only team allowing more three-point makes is Utah (5-12).
It also appears that this might not get better anytime soon. The Knicks entered Monday’s game without OG Anunoby, their best perimeter defender, and Landry Shamet, one of their better perimeter defenders.
The Knicks have given no timetable for Anunoby’s return from a hamstring injury but are expected to issue an update in about a week.
Shamet’s situation appears to be more serious (Brown declined to give an update before Monday’s game). He is officially listed as having a sprained right shoulder and is going for more testing, but he appeared to dislocate the shoulder when he ran into a hard screen set by Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. on Saturday.
If the diagnosis is a dislocated shoulder, Shamet could elect to have surgery or rehab it. He dislocated the same shoulder last season and opted not to have surgery. He returned to play after a couple of months and made significant contributions off the bench in the playoffs.
Before getting injured, he appeared to be building off that performance, contributing on defense and scoring a career-high 36 points in the game against Miami in which Anunoby was injured.
Mitchell Robinson also was out with an illness on Monday.
While Brown said it is up to those in the game to step up, he said the loss of Shamet and Anunoby has been a challenge for the team defensively.
“They can guard different types of players and positions and we miss them. It’s no secret,” Brown said. “But that’s what the NBA is about. It’s about trying to find a way every time you step on the court. It’s the next man up and everyone has to contribute when it comes to missing whoever, whether it’s offensively or defensively. They are both high-level on-ball defenders. Their impact we do miss . . . Both those guys are high-level on-ball defenders and they play with a level of physicality without fouling and versatility.”
So a month into the season, two questions remain.
Is the Eastern Conference better than anyone thought? It appears so, or at the very least it is a little deeper.
Are the Knicks not as good as we projected them to be? Not yet, but stay tuned. This is still very much a work in progress.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
