Jalen Brunson went down with a right ankle sprain early against Sacramento on Wednesday. The Knicks find themselves plenty busy addressing other issues while their star player gets some much-needed rest. Dropping seven of their last ten, the Knicks head back to New York for a three-game home stretch. Issues that have arisen early in the season have only intensified, including an average defense, inconsistency at center, and a reliance on streaky shooting. With Brunson out, players like Miles McBride and Jordan Clarkson will need to find their shots and work to replace Brunson’s 28 points per game.
Brunson Injury Magnifies Other Knicks Issues
Shooting Droughts Coupled with Average Defense
When the Knicks aren’t shooting well, it seems the answer is to continue shooting anyway until it falls in. With no elite defense to rely on, the pressure to score on offense while also stopping the bleeding on defense can quickly become insurmountable. The Knicks shot 8 for 41 from three against Sacramento on Wednesday, while letting DeMar DeRozan score at will. Former Knick, Precious Achiuwa, also dropped 20 points and had 14 rebounds.
Sitting at a point differential of +3.8, the Knicks are relying on razor-thin margins to win. These margins tighten in the playoffs alongside defensive effort. When the three-pointers stop falling, the verdict is still on whether coach Mike Brown can adapt and find ways to facilitate runs or not.
Coin Flip at Center
While on the floor, Mitchell Robinson is a league-leading offensive rebounder who provides desperately needed protection at the rim. The caveat is that he has to be on the floor. During their Eastern Conference Finals run last season, Robinson regularly alternated between playing twenty minutes one game and then thirty minutes the next. He has yet to play thirty minutes in a game this season and is managing an injury of his own. Durability will be a major concern for Robinson as the Knicks enter the playoffs.
Brown called Karl-Anthony Towns a “walking double-double” back in December, and it should be considered a standard outcome that Towns scores at least 10 points and grabs 10 rebounds in a game. It is the foul trouble he finds himself in early in games that has not improved thus far this season. Just yesterday against the Warriors, Towns was charged with his second personal foul in the first seven minutes of the game, prompting Brown to sub him out. Early foul trouble gives way to the chance of fouling out late in the fourth quarter when games are decided, and it will prove to be a liability come playoff time.
Bench players Guerschon Yabusele and Ariel Hukporti continue to show little to no impact on the court, furthering the pressure on Towns and Robinson to shoulder the entire load. They are unlikely to be contributors in the playoffs and exist solely to allow Towns or Robinson to rest.
Filling Brunson’s 28 Points Per Game Shoes
Brunson will get some much-needed rest, allowing the bench to soak up his 34.5 minute-per-game average. Landry Shamet, who played his first game since mid-November last night versus Golden State, was able to play 16 minutes and make a couple threes. Bringing him back into the rotation is important, so expect to see his usage rise in the next three home games. Clarkson has shown the ability to explode for points off the bench, and coach Brown will need to deploy him to get the team on a run.
It will be another chance for Tyler Kolek to prove himself. While he had some great games from the NBA Cup Finals to the weeks after, he hasn’t seen much playing time behind Brunson and McBride. With Brunson on the bench, Kolek needs to facilitate for his shooters and play meaningful perimeter defense.
The Knicks are more competitive when Josh Hart is on the floor. They are 5-5 without him, and 20-11 when he’s present. He’ll play 30 minutes or more in each of the next three home games and will look to maintain an impact while the bench continues to rotate.
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