Despite the 125-111 loss to the Pacers at the Garden last night, the New York Knicks faithful still have plenty of reasons to smile.
New York Knicks: Brunson and Burks hit the ground running
For one, franchise star Jalen Brunson came back after missing Thursday’s contest against the Mavericks with a sprained ankle. The 2024 all-star didn’t miss a beat, logging a game-high 39 points across 37 minutes.
Alec Burks scored 22 points off the bench, including a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc to begin his second stint in New York. Burks was the only Knick to heat up from deep, hitting the same amount of threes as Donte DiVincenzo and Bojan Bogdanovic combined.
Bogdanovic had an uneven New York Knicks debut, scoring 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. As he pointed out postgame, the veteran sharpshooter may need some more time to assimilate into the new offense.
“I felt good, but unfortunately we couldn’t get a W. It’s still kind of early for me and [Burks], and maybe gotta learn the set offense, to play a little bit faster in the flow and then defensively like switches and what we are doing.
“It’s gonna take a couple of games, probably. I hope that we’re gonna pick it up quick.”
The New York Knicks Are Slowly Healing Up
While the New York Knicks deadline deal with Detroit for Burks and Bogdanovic should provide immediate help over the coming contests, the squad is still very much depleted. In fact, they were without all three of their centers against Indiana (Mitchell Robinson, Isiah Hartenstein, and Jacob Toppin), leaving them undersized inside.
Additionally, the team is still without fellow all-star Julius Randle and two-way forward OG Anunoby, who was instrumental to its 14-2 January record. Missing all five of these players caused New York to have no answer for the Pacers’ league-leading offense, allowing Indiana to shoot 61 percent from the field and 48 percent from beyond the arc.
However, this game is not truly indicative of where the New York Knicks are as a team. They led the league with a 105.9 defensive rating, with Anunoby (117 rating), Randle, and Hartenstein playing most of the games in January. That was also entirely without Robinson (108.2 rating), who’s been sidelined since December 8 with an ankle injury.
The good news for Tom Thibodeau’s crew is that all of these players will be back over the coming weeks. Anunoby (elbow inflammation) and Randle (dislocated shoulder) will be re-evaluated over the all-star break, but they’re each projected to play by March. Hartenstein is day-to-day with a nagging Achilles injury, but the organization may want to give him extra rest in order to avoid him tearing the tendon, which would end his season.
Long-term outlook
Robinson will resume on-court activities following the All-Star break. This positions him to be available for the final stretch run. With Anunoby assigned to the opposition’s best perimeter threat and Robinson manning the inside, the New York Knicks could have an imposing defensive alignment come playoff time in April.
Offensively, the squad will also be productive at full strength. Robinson’s league-leading 5.3 offensive rebounds a game will provide them with more second-chance looks. Randle’s scoring prowess (24 points per game) will undoubtedly improve floor spacing for the other scoring threats.
If Burks can continue to shoot well from deep, and if Bogdanavic can approach his season average (20 points per game) the New York Knicks will be in prime position. While none of this is a guarantee, it’s important to remember that the roster at full strength leaves no major holes other than the absence of a top-five superstar.
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