4. New York Knicks area of need: Three-Point Shooting
There’s a growing myth that only elite three-point shooting teams are capable of winning championships. The reality is that balance takes precedence above all else, and even the Golden State Warriors would echo that sentiment.
Teams that fail to convert the three-ball with any form of consistency, however, might as well resign themselves to the tier of the pretenders.
Many teams rank in the bottom third of the NBA in three-point field goals made and still manage to win at a postseason level. That much is true about the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Indiana Pacers.
The difference between those teams and the New York Knicks, which rank dead last in three-point field goals made per game, is the efficiency with which they shoot.
Of all the postseason teams that were listed, only the Magic are currently shooting below 35 percent from beyond the arc as a team. Orlando is also five games below .500, despite being the No. 8 seed in the often-criticized Eastern Conference.
Being that the Knicks rank 27th in three-point field goal percentage at a woeful .337, it’s easy to piece together how desperately the team needs to improve from distance.