By Manuel Polanco
The New York Knicks have become a powerhouse over the last couple of years in the NBA. This season, they hope to advance toward their big aspirations. With key acquisitions in the offseason, they are poised to make a run in the playoffs.
The Knicks came into this season with one goal in mind: to win the Eastern Conference and make the NBA finals. They strengthened this goal by trading Minnesota Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns and Nets small forward Mikal Bridges.
Towns is averaging 24.9 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game as a Knick currently, all while shooting 53.3 % from the field goal. Bridges so far has averaged 15.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists as a Knick. Bridges is shooting 46.7% from the field goal.
When you take all-stars like Towns and Bridges and pair them with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Anunoby, you expect success and consistency. Unfortunately, with all these new additions, the New York Knicks have started the season with a measly 4-5, and have similarly lost their last three games.
The team has had one setback surrounding their defensive abilities. So far, the Knicks rank 20th in defensive rating, with a rating of 115.2. No matter how good their offense may be, the team will end up playing catch-up repeatedly without a good defense. The Knicks will have to do a lot to rebound as critiques mount for a better season.
When you trade a fan favorite Dante DiVincenzo after a great playoff run, fans will become more critical. The Knicks also traded Julius Randle, a player who gave some great moments during his tenure with the Knicks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics are the only two teams with a winning record in the Eastern Conference, as the Knicks sit in fifth place behind the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers. This could be due to a slow start, but soon the team will have to shift their gears and improve their defense.
When the fourth quarter begins, the Knicks looked incredibly fatigued and started to lose momentum. This happened when the team played against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 10. They were up by two points entering the fourth quarter, and would go on to be outscored 40-27 by the Pacers. They gave up 21 three pointers in the process and lost 132-121.
The same issues were still present in the team: where is the defense, especially late in the game? Ultimately, the Knicks will have to bounce back to make the playoffs, and they will have to do so with better defense.