Jalen Brunson is the focal point for a New York squad that boasts better depth and versatility this season.
The New York Knicks have gone from stirring echoes to rousing ghosts.
As New York (40-27) continues to push upward in the Eastern Conference standings, with an outside shot to reach 50 victories in a season for the first time since 2012-13, its success and defensive work have rekindled fond memories of Knicks eras past.
Meanwhile, individual performances by Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and even Precious Achiuwa have invoked franchise favorites such as Patrick Ewing, Bernard King, Walt Frazier and others.
For example, when Brunson backed up his 45-point game at Portland Thursday with 42 more at Sacramento Saturday, he became only the fourth Knicks player to stack two 40+ games, joining Carmelo Anthony, Ewing and King.
Heading into his team’s game at Golden State Monday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN), Brunson seems a shoo-in as the first Knicks guard since Frazier in 1974-75 to snag an All-NBA berth. He could join Anthony (third, 2013) as the only New York stars to finish Top 5 in Kia MVP voting since Ewing in 1995.
“He’s our go-to guy. Great that he was able to kinda get into that company,” Hart said after the 94-91 victory over the Kings.
Sacramento coach Mike Brown said that, except for Golden State’s Stephen Curry, his defense blitzed Brunson — clearly the head of New York’s offensive snake — more than anyone else this season. Didn’t matter. The sturdy, 27-year-old point guard then iced the game with a where’d-he-go play against Keon Ellis.
Lulled the defender to sleep by calling for a pick and ATTACKED. https://t.co/lJe6mCRUFk pic.twitter.com/2aEySrmIA2
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2024
“He’s a hell of a player,” Brown said. “We sent the double-team at him every single time he came off the pick-and-roll in the second half and probably half the time in the first half.”
Brunson has scored 40 or more seven times – more than Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker or Donovan Mitchell.
There’s more going on for New York than Brunson, though, despite the load he’s carrying with Julius Randle (dislocated shoulder) sidelined since January and Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) out since early December. Anunoby’s impact on the defense and outsized contributions from Hart, Hartenstein and Achiuwa first kept the Knicks afloat, and now has them thriving anew.
Their 14-2 January sagged to 4-8 in February, but they have won five of seven to open March, including the past three.
At 40-27, the Knicks start the week in fourth place, two games behind the No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers (42-25) and 3.5 behind the No. 2-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (44-24). Looking below in the East standings, they lead the Orlando Magic (40-28) by a half-game and the Indiana Pacers by 2.5. From there, it’s the Play-In zone they hope to avoid, with the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers sitting momentarily at 37-30.
Here are three keys for the Knicks in their push to go this spring as far as – farther than? – their conference semifinal loss to the Heat:
1. Ride the defense
No team has contributed more to what appears lately to be a stingier, tougher NBA for easy buckets than the Knicks. They have held opponents below 100 points in their last five outings, and rank 7th overall defensively and sixth in net rating (4.5). They lead the league with 21 games in which they’ve given up less than 100 points and are 17-4 when they do so.
Anunoby, an All-Defensive honoree last season, has been the favorite defensive tool in coach Tom Thibodeau’s box since from Toronto in December with Achiuwa. New York is 17-2 when he plays (the versatile 6-foot-7 wing missed 18 games after elbow surgery) and has offensive (122.9) and defensive (98.8) ratings per 100 possessions when Anunoby is on the floor that would easily rank No. 1 overall. He has been back for a week and it shows.
“He’s a leader on both sides of the ball,” Hart said after the Knicks held the 76ers to 79 points. “Offensively he’s able to knock down shots. Defensively, he’s someone you can base your defense around. He gets stops. … We’ve had success with him. Hopefully, we can keep him on the court.”
2. Get and stay healthy
Anunoby might have to deal with lingering soreness from his elbow surgery for a while because the Knicks plummet without him (110.9/114.2). They were fortunate when Brunson missed just one game recently with a knee contusion (a blowout loss to Atlanta on March 5). He reigns not only as an MVP candidate but as New York’s most indispensable player.
The more pressing concerns are with Randle and Robinson. Curiously, despite a more serious injury and longer layoff, Robinson’s progress sounds more encouraging than the three-time All-Star forward. Randle, despite lathering up in pregame workouts, still hasn’t been cleared for full contact. Contact matters with him, given the way the bruising Randle likes — and needs — to play.
Robinson, initially thought to be lost until next season, could return after all and slip into a shot-blocking, rim-protecting role behind surprisingly effective Hartenstein.
3. Nail down the rotation
Hart and Hartenstein have picked up the injuries slack well. But both are at or near career highs in minutes played per game (as are Brunson, Anunoby, Achiuwa and Donte DiVincenzo).
For example, Hart went from averaging 28.2 minutes, 7.3 points and 6.5 rebounds mostly off the bench in the first 45 games to 40.7 minutes, 12.9 and 11.3 in the past 21, all starts, with four triple-doubles. When informed by TNT sideline reporter Jared Greenburg after Thursday’s victory over the Sixers that he played fewer than 40 minutes, Hart gave a Tiger Woods fist pump. “There we go,” he said. “I told ya, once OG’s back, minutes going down, baby.”
For all the guff Thibodeau takes reputationally for grinding down his players, Brunson at 35.2 mpg is tied for 17th among this season’s most heavily used players. Hart at 32.1 ranks 54th. Randle (35.4) and Robinson (33.2) were up there but their injuries hardly seemed fatigue-driven.
In Chicago, the Bulls bench under Thibodeau was seen as another All-Star, with boosts from Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson, a young Jimmy Butler, Kurt Thomas and others. Last season, nine Knicks averaged 20 minutes per game, with only Randle (17th) cracking the NBA’s top 20.
This group if healthy has serious depth, providing the veteran wings acquired before last month’s trade deadline — Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks — provide the second-unit shooting and stability New York needs. Neither has sparked what the Knicks hoped when they came from Detroit for promising Quentin Grimes, though both gave productive, fourth-quarter minutes Saturday vs. the Kings.
The race to the finish in the gridlocked East and however much postseason follows won’t allow Thibodeau to tinker much. But the urgency should help with focus.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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