2 Weaknesses that could keep Knicks from making deep playoff run

2. Jalen Brunson bench minutes

Before Dec. 30, New York turned to Immanuel Quickley when Brunson rested. The front office sacrificed Quickley for Anunoby in a trade the front office was right to make. Anunoby was sidelined after an elbow injury that required surgery, but he's since returned. The Knicks are 19-3 with him in the lineup. The numbers don't lie!

Even though Anunoby has transformed the Knicks, the team misses Quickley's production off the bench. Per Cleaning the Glass, New York scores 14.8 points per 100 possessions more with Brunson on the court than when he's off.

The Knicks traded for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks before the deadline, hoping Burks would facilitate the second unit and provide a scoring punch. He's averaging 6.5 points and 0.7 assists per game and will likely be outside Thibodeau's playoff rotation. Bogdanovic has looked more comfortable on the court, which is a good sign for the playoffs.

Now that Anunoby's back, Miles McBride has returned to a bench role. He's far more confident on the offensive end, averaging a career-high 8.4 points and 1.6 assists per game and shooting 45.3% from the field and 41.5% from three. However, New York still lacks a solid bench facilitator.

It's normal for a team to score fewer points when their best player is on the bench than when he's on the floor. Other playoff teams will deal with the same issue. The Knicks will have to do their best to survive the non-Brunson postseason minutes. It doesn't help that Randle's out.