Boy, they really needed that one.
The Knicks ' vibes were falling apart. After recovering well after the back-to-back blowout defeats to contenders, the vibe meter crashed harder than the stock market following the one-two punch of Jalen Brunson’s ankle injury and a blown double-digit lead to the Lakers on Thursday. Add in the uninspiring defeat at the Intuit Dome the next night, and the Knicks had lost three straight while ankle-deep into their annual West Coast trip. A loss in Sacramento would mark the franchise’s first four-game skid since February 2024.
Thankfully, the JB-less Knicks got a shorthanded Kings team on a back-to-back for their first double-digit win since February 11 and their first true blowout since January. The enjoyable, stress-free affair saw a career-high assist total for OG Anunoby and Josh Hart’s first 4+ 3PM effort since the New Year.
A full team effort like the one we saw last night is what’s needed nightly while Brunson is on the shelf. With his re-evaluation coming later this month, it’s fair to assume the Knicks will not see their captain until April. Because of that, they’re going to need to learn how to live without him. I was optimistic that the two days off would give them enough time to figure out the roles after they looked lost against the Clippers, and they showed the blueprint for success without Brunson.
Space the Floor
This is a common fact of life, but Jalen Brunson has masked spacing concerns in the past by being able to score from every piece of hardwood. The fact of the matter is that any Knicks lineup involving Josh Hart and a non-KAT center has been a negative for the Knicks in 2024-25.
In a positive development, the disastrous Hart-Achiuwa lineup was not used last night. However, the Hart-Robinson lineup played 13 minutes and had a +72 net rating. Wait, what? How does that work?
How that works is that Josh Hart solved the spacing concerns by doing something the fans (and his teammates) have been begging him to do for months.
Let. It. Rip.
The reason why Hart is a spacing killer is that his reluctance to shoot the 3 makes teams sag off of him and clog the paint. If one of your perimeter players can’t shoot, it makes everyone’s life harder.
Although the numbers don’t really back it up for Josh, it’s common sense that just catching and firing is a lot better than doing whatever else Hart likes to do before shooting. Three of his four triples were catch-&-shoot last night and it disrupted Sacramento’s defense, eventually forcing them to stop sagging.
Hart’s reluctance to shoot and poor shooting overall has been a big reason for the Knicks’ recent offensive slump. Before the all-star break, they were second in offensive rating. Since, they sit 28th. Hart was shooting just 22.2% from three on 2.6 attempts, compared to 33.7% on 3.3 attempts prior.
If Hart is confident and making his shots, all but one of the Brunson-less rotation will be a threat from deep, with the only one being a defensive anchor in the middle in Mitchell Robinson. That’ll be key to keeping up the offense.
Deuce Making Shots
Does some of this sound obvious? Sure.
Does it make it any less true? Absolutely not.
A lot of times, the Knicks’ fate is solely determined by whether their usual sixth man can make shots.
In wins this season, McBride is shooting 43.3% from deep.
In losses, he’s shooting just 24.7%.
Most nights, he’s a vast majority of their already shallow bench scoring. Without Brunson, he’s the starting point guard and his role is drastically increased.
It’s been a disappointing season all around for McBride, who’s shooting under 37% from the perimeter after a breakout 2023-24 off the bench. He was alarmingly bad on offense against the Clippers, going 2-for-13 and 2-for-9 from three.
Against the Kings, Deuce shot 7-for-11 from the field and 4-5 from 3. As is the case with him, you can tell whether he’s on or not from his first shot attempt.
Frankly, it’s not a great shot, but when Deuce makes it, you just know he’s gonna hoop that night.
We all know the story with Deuce. He lacks the playmaking and shot creation that many guards need in this league to succeed. He’s been great in a 3-and-D role since becoming a regular but when the shot isn’t falling things get ugly.
Although he’s the de facto point guard, playmaking duties will be distributed across the roster. To get the best out of Deuce, he needs to be getting looks like these to get in a groove that can carry the team through offensive ruts:
Share The Rock
Jalen Brunson is the team’s leader on the basketball court. He’s the best playmaker and is the engine of the offense. Without him, there’s a vacuum.
While he leads the team in assists and is always the one making the feed to a shooter, Brunson is also the killer of ball movement.
The Knicks aren’t a heavy iso squad, with an isolation frequency of just 7.6%. However, Jalen Brunson is one of the leading isolationists in the league. While he averages over four per game with a ISO% of nearly 18%, only KAT is even close on the team with 2.2 per game and a 10.6 ISO%.
I can’t access whether isolations are down in the last two games but that’s fair to assume. The Knicks were incredible with their ball movement in Sacramento, dishing out 34 assists on 45 makes, their third-most assists since the New Year. Their 75.6 Assist% last night was one of their higher marks of the season and well above their season average of 62.5%.
Without an alpha on the roster, the Knicks can maximize the offense with their ball movement. They had several incredible sequences against the Kings that display what happens when you move the ball on a team of shooters.
With Sabonis out, KAT had a mismatch when Jonas Valanciunas sat. When the Kings collapsed to make up for it, it leads to an open look. Hart and KAT are willing playmakers, but Anunoby and Bridges can get this to another level. Wingstop combined for 15 assists last night, including a career-high 8 in an ultimate stat-stuffer line for Anunoby.
If these two can find a playmaking leap in this stretch, it can transform this offense now and in the future.
Defense, Defense, Defense
Deuce McBride, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson.
The best guard, wing, and big defenders on the team combined for 11 steals yesterday.
They get it done in different ways. Anunoby is a deflection maestro, McBride’s on-ball defense is the definition of pesky, and Robinson uses his long arms to protect the rim and clog passing lanes.
Moreso, they’re willing to do the dirty work on a team built to maximize offense.
Anunoby gets his steals in many ways. He can do it by being a ferocious on-ball defender, jumping in passing lanes, or as a help defender.
Mitchell Robinson is a bad man defensively.
He’s not only great at defending deep into the post, but he always seems to be in the right place at the right time to disrupt play.
Deuce does the same thing. He just never gives up on a play defensively.
However, it wasn’t just these three. The Knicks played great team defense all night. With offrensive dynamos like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Malik Monk roaming the floor, the Knicks could easily fall into bad habits and be barraged from deep.
Excellent communication, switches, and closeouts prevented the Kings from ever getting into an offensive groove. While the other points may only be applicable without Brunson, the level of commitment they showed defensively as a team is something that can be maintained.