New York Knicks: What to expect against Oklahoma City Thunder

The New York Knicks will open the 2017-18 NBA regular season against the Oklahoma City on Thursday, October 19. What can fans expect to see?

This is the best time to be a fan of the New York Knicks. The season hasn’t started yet, and we can still be somewhat optimistic before the opening tip. The Knicks open the 2017-18 NBA season against the former cornerstone of their franchise: Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony will be motivated to perform well in his first regular season game since being traded. The fact that the game will be played against the team that traded him should make Anthony an even more imposing scoring threat.

Beyond the scoring threat Anthony provides, the Knicks are going to have their hands full with a new and improved Thunder team.

Isolation

The Thunder are going to play a lot of isolation basketball. If Andre Roberson gets the ball in a half court set, he will most likely be calling timeout or hoisting an uncontested three-pointer.

Respectively, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George had the first, third and 10th-most isolated shots per game in the NBA. 

Every Knicks fan can remember the times when Anthony would take the ball on the baseline, back the defender down, launch a turnaround jumper from 14 feet, and hit net.

Westbrook and George Are both coming from offenses where they were expected to carry a lot of the scoring load. Neither player had a teammate who averaged more than 16 points per game.

Both Westbrook and George were asked to do a lot of isolation scoring. All three are going to have to adapt to each other’s playing style. That will come with time, but in game one, expect a lot of isolation from the three superstars.

Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook is going to be ready to make a splash in his first regular season game with his new teammates. After signing a $205 million extension, the Thunder have made it clear that Westbrook is their guy.

Anthony and George are All-Star level players. I dare say Paul George is a top-10 player in the NBA, but this is Brodie’s team. He has a chip on his shoulder so big, you can see it poking out of his jersey.

With Frank “The Strasbourg Sniper” Ntilikina recovering from a bruised knee and playing in his first regular season game, he might have a tough time guarding the MVP of the NBA.

However, Ntilikina is humongous. He might do well.

Offensive Rebounds

The Knicks aren’t very good at boxing out. Last year, their opponents had the highest offensive rebounding percentage by almost a full percentage point.

The Thunder had the highest offensive rebound percentage in the league last year. This doesn’t seem like a winning situation for the Knicks.

Not to mention that Anthony is above-average on the boards, something he has never received recognition for.

The addition of Enes Kanter from the Thunder to the Knicks will make a difference in the game, but Oklahoma City is going to crash the offensive glass—very hard.

The Knicks are going to rely on Kanter a lot to solidify the defensive glass. If the Knicks can keep the Thunder’s trio to one shot per possession, they’ll have a chance to make the game interesting.

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The New York Knicks are going to face an uphill battle against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Can they pull off the upset?