Have the Knicks shifted away from their physical identity?
The Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns runs up court during the first half against the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ORLANDO, Fla.
The Knicks have managed to achieve some of the goals they had put in place. They rank second in the NBA in three-pointers made, have pushed the pace up to the middle of the league and have scored in bunches.
But what may be lost right now is what they had as the team ascended from years of dysfunction — an identity.
When the Knicks began their turnaround in 2020-21, they were an overachieving group that managed their way through the COVID restrictions to earn a playoff berth. As they improved over the years, they were tough, a team that would go to war every night.
This season, though, maybe there has been a little more finesse, a little more looking like a team that is willing to outshoot or outskill opponents rather than wrestle their way to the final buzzer. The postgame photo shoots featuring the defensive player of the game with a pair of Timberlands over his shoulder along with a construction helmet and vest don’t really resemble what happens for the 48 minutes on the court.
When the Knicks last faced the Orlando Magic, they suffered their most lopsided loss of the season. It wasn’t just the score but the style. After the game, the Knicks spoke of being bullied, and they weren’t happy.
“We got to match just their intensity in general,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after Friday’s practice. “So they did a good job last game of finding a way to win and we got to match their intensity, especially tomorrow.”
“For sure. You take your hat off to Jamahl Mosley, the rest of their staff and their guys,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “They were physical, they were the more physical team that night, and I like the fact that our team took ownership of it and didn’t use excuses, because there could have been a million excuses that night that we could have used.
“But we’re a no-excuse team. It doesn’t matter what our schedule is, doesn’t matter about the officials. It doesn’t matter about any of that. We’ve gotta go play the right way when our number’s called and we didn’t do a good job of it that game, and it started with how physical they were coming in and punching us in the mouth first.”
Getting punched in the mouth first — or last — is not something the Knicks squads of recent vintage took kindly to. That’s been a long-standing style that has endeared itself to the fan base in New York. Whether it was Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks or Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, the Knicks would not be outworked or outmuscled.
The front office has worked to add talent year after year, and with the arrival of Brown, there has been a focus on a shift in style. While the results in the postseason, not the results in November, will determine how these changes are viewed, they’ve yet to take hold in any way that has created an identity that the team — and the fans — can cling to.
The team has only begun to implement plays called from the sideline, focusing mainly on learning and acclimating to offensive principles through the early part of the season. Even some of that has been met with some resistance, or at least skepticism.
“Just trying to — like I say after almost every game, I want to find different ways to impact this team winning,” Towns said. “And just continue to figure everything out. We all are. So definitely on my part I could do a better job hitting some shots. But I’ll get to that. Numbers will always number out. So I’m just staying confident. It’s great to get our first road win. That’s what it’s about. It’s about the wins. So it’s a good start to what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Asked how big a shift it’s been, Towns, who during the preseason spoke about uncertainty in his role, said, “It’s different. It’s different. I haven’t seen it in my 11 years. But I’m having fun with it. I’m just continuing to get better and impact the game, like I said, and impact winning and continue to help our team any way possible.”
Winning is what matters most, but after 14 games, it remains to be seen just how the Knicks will get there. Will they mimic the top-ranked offense that Brown led in Sacramento and the powerhouse offenses he was a part of for years as an assistant with Golden State? Or will they be the blue-collar sort of squad that the city embraced? Maybe Saturday evening in Orlando will provide an answer.
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.
