Mike Brown will be under immense amounts of pressure during his first year as head coach of the New York Knicks. The team has real title aspirations and just fired the coach who took them further in the playoffs than anyone had in 25 years. He will have to adjust quickly, while also determining how to optimize his starting lineup and rotation. Luckily for him, the Knicks' opening stretch of the season is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
> Knicks’ 2025-26 schedule: [pic.twitter.com/sf5JvoUkUZ](https://t.co/sf5JvoUkUZ)
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> — Ian Begley (@IanBegley) [August 14, 2025](https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1956072443933802976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Knicks have favorable start to the season
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Of New York's first 23 games, which leads them right up to the start of the NBA Cup, 14 of them are at Madison Square Garden. On top of that, over half of the games come against teams that had a losing record last season.
Of course, that doesn't perfectly reflect how good a team will be this year. For example, they open the season against the Boston Celtics, who should be a fair bit worse this season, considering they will be without Jayson Tatum due to injury and have traded away other key pieces like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
At the same time, the Knicks play the Dallas Mavericks on November 19, who just added Cooper Flagg with the number one overall pick and could be significantly better than they were last season, as could the Miami Heat, who added Norman Powell via trade.
That said, less travel and only two back-to-backs make for a great opportunity for Brown to get his bearings and figure out what his best starting lineup is.
Perfect testing ground for Mike Brown
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Aside from adjusting to a bigger market, more media scrutiny, and a more rabid fanbase, Brown also has a lot of work cut out for him to figure out what the best starting lineup is for the Knicks.
He has plenty to experiment with. He could start with the same unit that played together more than any team in the league last year, or lean into the double-big tandem of Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns, which is what the Knicks did in the Eastern Conference Finals. He could also lean into shooting and space by starting Deuce McBride or Jordan Clarkson alongside Jalen Brunson.
What is important is that Brown has the runway to try out different combinations early in the year, so that by the time the playoffs come around, both he and the players are comfortable adapting depending on matchups.