Will the New York Knicks offense shock the world in the NBA playoffs?

The New York Knicks only have two games remaining before they partake in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2013.

New York’s overhauled front office and coaching staff have transformed the team into one of the best squads in the league. Many aspects of the transformation – the culture, Randle’s play, Barrett’s improvement, the team’s defense – have all seemed to have happened early on this offseason and at the start of the regular season. This team established its identity early on.

The offense, however, evolved as the season progressed.

Can the New York Knicks maintain their shooting in the playoffs?

Tom Thibodeau, a coach who is always attached to strong defense, established that mentality into the team early on. The offense has had to play catch up, and while it’s not at the same level as the Knicks’ defense (Defensive rating ranks 3rd in the league, offensive rating ranks 12th) it’s certainly been effective over the past 6-8 weeks.

It’s been a long time since we had playoff basketball at the Garden. This is when teams buckle down and have 4-7 games to gameplan and attack their opponent’s weaknesses.

The New York Knicks are feeling good, but so is every team that they are going to face.

The crux of the team’s improvement on offense has been their transformation into a lights-out shooting team. New York currently ranks 4th in the NBA at 39% shooting from three.

Still, this team seems like they have some untapped potential on their offense. With the roster getting closer to full health, it’s exciting to think about what the healthy rotations could be in just a week.

Before we look at potential adjustments Tom Thibodeau and his staff could make, let’s look at how the offense has looked recently.

New York Knicks: Team looks to get full rotation back soon

The New York Knicks have been playing with a slew of minor injuries. Alec Burks has missed extensive time but recently returned, Immanuel Quickley missed most of the West Coast trip also returned, and Derrick Rose missed the team’s last game against the Spurs.

Burks, Quickley, and Rose have all been crucial to New York’s offensive success. They provide significant boosts of scoring.

Against the Spurs, although there were some rough stretches, the Knicks were getting whatever looks they wanted in the 4th quarter. They shot 50% from three in that quarter to close San Antonio out.

Before that game, we saw the Knicks go 3-3 on their West Coast trip, which was a positive showing against a tough slate of teams. Still, that Lakers game got away with them.

I wrote an article earlier in the week about how the Lakers defended the Knicks in that game.

Yes, the game was close. Yes, the Lakers are a great defensive team – but that’s where we are now, we’re in the playoffs getting ready to face the best teams in the league. This isn’t being overly critical, this is talking about how a really good team (The Knicks) can potentially take down a great team (76ers, Bucks, Nets).

The Lakers essentially did everything in their power to defend the perimeter. It’s not an easy task against New York, but it can be an effective one. It required their perimeter defenders to relentlessly fight through screens and never switch.

They would send all of their extra focus to the perimeter when Julius Randle had the ball to make sure he wasn’t executing those kick-outs he does so well. They dared the Knicks to attack the rim – they didn’t want their snipers to get good looks.

It’s something we’ve seen against teams the New York Knicks have struggled with. The Knicks have gone 0-3 against the Miami Heat this season, a strong defensive team that really focused on daring New York to attack the paint. The Knicks shot just 34.0% from 3 against Miami this season.

The same can be said about their last two games against the Milwaukee Bucks, another strong defensive team who they will very likely play in round one of the NBA playoffs. The Knicks shot just 35.8% from 3 in their last two matchups, both losses.

Here’s the thing – it’s not a death sentence. It’s not as simple as “Take away the 3 and the Knicks lose”. Opponents really have to work hard to neutralize New York, who is already an exhausting matchup on defense.

So how can the Knicks prepare? How can they continue to make adjustments and keep their shooting alive in the NBA playoffs? If they do, they can make a lot of noise.

New York Knicks: More movement – on and off the ball

The Knicks are a team of shooters. Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose, Reggie Bullock, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks – This team can cycle through a lot of options along the perimeter.

It’s not just spot-up shooters. Randle, Burks, and Quickley are all guys who are able to hit difficult 3-pointers off the dribble.

Getting back to full strength will be big for the playoffs. With their recent minor injures, New York has to make adjustments, such as having to play Derrick Rose for the entire 4th quarter and overtime against the Lakers.

The Knicks are going to need to get their secondary guys involved. Not only that, they need them to play at the top of their game.

Not many teams have the “instant offense” talent off of the bench that New York does with Rose, Quickley, and Burks. It’s not just the aforementioned talent to shoot of the dribble, it’s the ability to break down defenses with ball-handling.

I’m not going to get deep into the Elfrid Payton stuff, but man, for the defenders who were already grasping at straws with the baseless “he sets the tone” or “he’s a veteran presence who Thibodeau trusts” arguments, it’s getting… sad? Is there a more profound word?

Payton has the worst defensive rating on the team. Horrible pick and roll defender, low field goal percentage at the rim, can’t shoot, slow…let me stop myself. Anyways… Let’s refocus on the team’s threats on offense.

The New York Knicks do have a lot of secondary scoring options. It’s incredibly hard for defenses to contain offenses where everyone is both a ball-handler and a shooter. New York needs to get creative with those lineups.

Get Barrett running with the 2nd unit, sprinkle in Quickley and Rose on the court together with Randle – Utilize those mismatches because the Knicks actually have the personnel on offense to create difficult defensive assignments for their opponent.

New York’s ball-handlers may not be high-level passers, but they can create easy passing lanes with their ability to dribble. The key is to make sure the ball is moving through those passing lanes.

So while New York has a wide variety of shooters and ball-handlers, the one thing they are still lacking is authority at the rim.

When you talk about the New York Knicks’ role players you don’t think of guys with elite speed who are great at finishing at the rim. It’s a team of guys who can score from just about anywhere that’s not directly under the rim.

Even the Knicks’ top scorers: Randle, Barrett, and Rose – all rank in the 23rd percentile or lower in their respective positions for field goal percentage at the rim (per Cleaning the Glass).

It seems like there are times where Randle or Barrett will be one-on-one with someone, driving to the rim, have an angle, and yet, they’re already looking for the kick-out pass for three. Just go up and take the contact! They have the strength to absorb the contact and take the hits.

If NY can get to the rim with more conviction, they can start drawing more fouls and getting teams uncomfortable. It’s only going to lead to better looks from three.

While the Knicks can try and incorporate more ball movement and penetration, let’s zoom in on the centerpiece of the team: Julius Randle.

Whoever this team plays in round-1 is going to watch a lot of Julius Randle film.

Randle is such a dominant player that a lot of the time, he’s going to figure it out on his own. Defensives have thrown a lot of different looks his way this season and he usually figures it out with a difficult shot or pass. He’s a multidimensional talent on offense.

Still, there are ways in which he can be even more effective for the playoffs.

The New York Knicks can get more creative with their best player

Looking at Julius Randle specifically, the team is going to continue to run a lot of their offense through him. That doesn’t just mean Randle the scorer, it also means Randle the facilitator. Defenses are going to do everything in their power to stop the Randle baseline jumper and the Randle kick-out to the open shooter.

To help increase the effectiveness of the Randle-driven offense, The Knicks once again need more movement. Not just along the perimeter, but more cuts to the basket to help give him more options. We actually saw Randle utilize a nice little drop pass to Taj Gibson in the paint a few times in the Spurs game. Something we hadn’t really seen before.

We know this is an isolation-heavy offense, but I don’t mind it late in games, depending on the spot.

For as potent as that spot has been this season, Randle on the baseline is usually a mistake when the team runs it late in the game. It’s easy to trap, which is a bigger deal when there are only a few seconds on the clock. I much prefer him to have the ball near his other favorite spot, the elbow.

When Randle is in his triple-threat position near the elbow, it’s a much less effective spot to double team than it is in the low-post or along on the baseline. You don’t have the baseline as an extra defender. Randle has more room to operate and ball-handle – we saw him light up the Clippers from this spot to close out the game. 

I mentioned this in my previous article, but getting Randle even more involved as a roll-man in pick and rolls would be a lot of fun to see. Whether it’s with Barrett, Rose, Burks, or Quickley – getting Randle to operate as an off-ball partner could be a nice added wrinkle to the offense.

I can emphasize the importance of the New York Knicks’ secondary scorers all I want, but they still live and die with Julius Randle.

This team has the personnel to be a really strong half-court offense. They’re already a terrific shooting team.

So as they prepare to face the best teams in the NBA Playoffs, they need to expect the unexpected. They need to grow into what many think they’re incapable of.

They’ve already gotten close. We’ve seen the offense take over games, just not consistently. How many times have the New York Knicks lost to the top teams by just a possession or two?

Really, that’s how good this team is. Just a few small adjustments away from being able to steal some games against the top teams in the league. This team has been proving doubters wrong since December 23rd, 2020. Let’s see if they can continue to do so.