3. Ball Movement
At times this season, the New York Knicks have looked like an unstoppable offensive machine. The ball movement has been beautiful, as has the manner in which the Knicks have been moving in off-ball scenarios.
The Knicks have also spent half the season falling into isolation tendencies that have stunted the development of team chemistry on offense.
Through 13 games, the Knicks are 5-1 when they dish out at least 20 assists. The one loss was to the Washington Wizards, when a vast majority of the Knicks’ offense was achieved once the game was out of hand.
New York has been atrocious when it’s struggled to create ball movement, with a 1-6 record when it’s failed to reach 20 assists.
Numbers are occasionally arbitrary, but this is a prime example of how important the 20-assist plateau is for the Knicks. 20 assists all but guarantees that the Knicks will have assisted a respectable percentage of their made field goals.
Against a team as offensively proficient as the Portland Trail Blazers, creating consistent ball movement will be crucial to team success.