The New York Knicks are 17-7 and headed to Las Vegas after their Tuesday night win on the road against the Toronto Raptors. Outside of some additions to the bench unit, the core of this year's roster is the same as last season's, a unit Tom Thibodeau led to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks' most controversial offseason change was their decision to pivot at head coach, hiring Mike Brown to take the reigns of a championship-ready roster. It's still early in the season: but, thus far, New York is boasting an improved offensive and defensive rating compared to 2024-25.
Mike Brown is delivering improved Knicks offense
Although Brown served as the Golden State Warriors' defensive coordinator during his four years there, Knick fans were most excited for the changes he'd bring to their team's offense. Last year's team had the fifth-highest offensive rating in the entire NBA of 117.3, representative of the number of points they scored per 100 possessions.
This season, the Knicks' offense has been even more impressive. The team is scoring 120.5 points per game, also the fifth-highest in the NBA through Tuesday. The 121.8 offensive rating they're producing as a result is the league's third best, with the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets being the only teams ahead.
The Knicks have the same turnover percentage as last season and their slightly-faster pace measures out with the same league-standing as last year's. But by getting into their sets faster and taking six more 3-pointers per game than they did last season, they've simply been better.
Even amid several injuries to key players like Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Deuce McBride, and the load management of Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks just keep chugging along. That's a testament to Brown's system and the talented players for buying into it.
Knicks' defense hasn't lost a step
Thibodeau is known for his intense devotion to the defensive end of the floor. The Knicks had the 13th-lowest, meaning best, defensive rating last season at 113.3. This year's mark through their first 24 games is 113.2, technically an improvement.
More important than the tenth of a point fewer that opponents are scoring per 100 possessions is the lack of any defensive drop-off, at least by the numbers. New York has not given up playing defense entirely just because they're in the midst of adapting to a new system on both sides of the court.
Brown has started Robinson alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, an adjustment last year's team didn't make until the middle of the postseason. But recently, given Robinson's medical restrictions, he's turned to Josh Hart instead.
As long as things are all set for the playoffs, whatever experiments Brown conducts during the regular season will easily be forgotten. So far, though, they're leading to improvement across the board, which might make the Knicks' front office feel like their big gamble might just pay off.