The New York Knicks clawed and punched their way into the 2024 playoffs. Mitchell Robinson was out for three and a half months, OG Anunoby for a month and a half, and no Julius Randle for the last half of the season, but the Knicks still clinched a top-six seed.
New York beat the top two seeds in the East in the past week. The Knicks' last regular-season away game was a 118-109 win over the Celtics. Jalen Brunson scored 39 points in three quarters in a game Boston was at full strength. It was an encouraging sign with the postseason around the corner.
2 Weaknesses that could help Knicks from making playoff run to ECF
Like every other playoff-bound team, New York has flaws. Opposing coaches could exploit the Knicks' weaknesses like Erik Spoelstra did last year. It helps that New York has one of the best players in the league. Brunson's a top playoff performer, but he can't lead the Knicks to the promised land without some help from his teammates.
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.
1. No Julius Randle
Randle's final game of the 2023-24 season was on Jan. 27, when he dislocated his shoulder against the Heat. For two months, the hope was he'd be able to return, but that hope was erased when Woj reported Randle would undergo season-ending surgery.
By then, the Knicks were already accustomed to life without Randle, so New York didn't have to adjust when the news was announced. All the team had to do was keep playing as they had been.
The Knicks have managed to keep their top seed in the East with Randle sidelined, but his absence will be felt even more in the playoffs. Brunson will draw more defensive pressure (like last year), and New York will miss having Randle in the paint to remove some of that pressure.
Yes, Randle's struggled in the postseason, but that doesn't mean the Knicks are better off without him. It helps that New York gained floor spacers in DiVincenzo and Anunoby, but it's impossible to replicate the player Randle is. His physicality will also be missed. There's nothing like Randle's bully ball.
The Knicks could still advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 without Randle, but it won't be easy.