By Eddie Castro
As we go to press, the New York Knicks have just a few games left in the regular season in what has been quite the Rollercoaster year in Mike Brown’s first year as Head Coach. The team is currently on a two-game winning streak albeit their two victories came against short-handed teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and the Chicago Bulls.
The Knicks scored 130+ points in both contests doing what nearly 50-win teams are supposed to do against weaker opponents. The team is currently trying to catch the Boston Celtics for the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The past few weeks for the team have been very strange to say the least.
After their recent 7-game winning streak, the Knicks would go on to lose the next three games in a row all by double-digits against the Thunder, Rockets, and Hornets. All three teams are currently playoff-bound if the season ended today. In fact, capturing a win against the league’s best teams has been a thorn in the Knicks’ side all year. Aside from their down-to-the-wire win in Atlanta on Monday, the last notable win the Knicks had against a team with a winning record was back on March 6, a 142-103 blowout victory versus the Denver Nuggets.
New York currently has a 10-13 win-loss record against top-tier teams with a winning record, particularly on the road in which they are 1-9. A lot of the team’s struggles this year are the inconsistent play of players in the lineup not named Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. Players like Karl Anthony-Towns and Mikal Bridges have been inconsistent as both players have not adapted fully to Coach Brown’s system.
There are games where Towns takes just six shot attempts which is very uncanny for a guy who has not only been a six-time All-Star, but a player who can average 20 points and 10 rebounds in his sleep. Getting him into his preferred spots especially in the painted area is going to be a major key if the Knicks plan to make a deep run. The Bridges situation is quite different from Town.
Both are vastly diverse types of players. Bridges has shown that he can score at will if necessary. He did that during his time in Phoenix and he was the “Guy” during his short stint in Brooklyn. This year has been quite the challenge for Bridges adapting to Brown’s system, which is vastly different from what former Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau had in place the past few seasons.
Bridges has not had the season that many feel live up to his potential and of course Knick fans will always have him under a microscope considering New York sent five first-round picks to Brooklyn for him. For what it’s worth, Bridges’ best moments in his career, let alone in a Knick uniform have come in the playoffs, most recent the two huge defensive plays he had had in the ending of the first two playoff games against the Celtics.
The Knicks’ season is coming to an end, and there are many questions about the team’s consistent play. There are days when they look unstoppable led by Brunson. Whether it’s big-time threes or their tenacious defensive efforts by players of the likes of Josh Hart, OG Anunoby or Mitchell Robinson snatching another offensive rebound providing the Knicks with a second-chance possession. Then there are nights preferably against the better teams in the league where the Knicks can go ice cold offensively and have many defensive break downs. For the Knicks to be the Eastern Conference this year, the must put out a consistent effort for 48 minutes.
Let us face it, teams like the Celtics, Pistons and now you can add the Hornets and Hawks to the list of dangerous teams. No matter how great Batman was, he needed his Robin in the most pivotal moments. The question for the Knicks is who’s going to be Brunson’s Robin to battle against the villains in the East? This is without a doubt the best roster the Knicks have put together to possibly have a deep playoff run and perhaps reach the NBA Finals, a feat the team has not been able to reach since the lockout year in 2000. It’s been a Wild run for New York, but the playoffs are around the corner and that’s when we’ll really see just what this team is made of.
Sports Notes: (Baseball) The New York Mets wrap-up a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Citi Field. The Yankees will wrap-up their own three-game set tonight against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium. The team will then head to Florida to battle the Tampa Bay Rays to begin a three-game set tomorrow.