Exposing Knicks' Biggest Concerns and Weaknesses to Open 2023-24 NBA Season
The New York Knicks are having another good NBA season.
If they want to elevate it toward greatness, though, they have a few things to fix.
Let's spotlight three of the biggest worries the team has encountered so far.
They Can't Shoot—Inside the Arc
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The Knicks are a statistical anomaly.
Last season, they had the league's fourth-most efficient offense, per NBA.com, despite being a bottom-half three-point shooting. This season, they've improved their outside attack—by quantity and quality—and slipped to 12th in offensive efficiency.
Erratic two-point shooting is to blame. No team has posted a worse shooting percentage on two-point attempts than New York's 48.7. The Knicks have been the least accurate team inside of the restricted area (58.2 percent) and are fifth from the bottom in the mid-range (37.8 percent).
These are team-wide struggles, but the primary culprits are also New York's most utilized players. All three of Jalen Brunson (51.9 to 46.1), Julius Randle (55.3 to 45.8) and RJ Barrett (49.5 to 42.9) have seen significant declines in their two-point connection rates.
Josh Hart Can't Find His Footing
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From the second Josh Hart arrived at last season's trade deadline, he immediately jolted this team. He quickly became a favorite of both the fans and the coaching staff, and the front office showed its appreciation for him by way of a four-year, $81 million contract extension.
He could basically do no wrong down the stretch, and while his torrid shooting never felt likely to sustain, he still seemed like a perfect fit for this roster.
He could still be that, but he hasn't been the same player so far. Virtually his entire stat sheet has dropped, and he's admitted that some changes to his role—less time on the ball, more time at power forward—have impacted his play.
"I'm a rhythm player," Hart told reporters. "I'm not someone that's just a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, that just only does that. … When you don't have a rhythm like that or you don't feel included—it's just, sometimes (it is) tough not touching it and having to catch and shoot."
They've Been Bad Against Good Teams
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A big part of being good is winning the games you should. The Knicks have gotten an A-plus on that front, going a perfect 8-0 against opponents with losing records.
To make that tricky leap from good to great, though, you need to step up and perform against the top competition. It's the whole to be the best, you've got to beat the best thing.
That's the part of the puzzle New York has yet to solve.
The Knicks have played nine games opponents with a .500-or-better winning percentage. They've lost seven of them, and their only two wins were against the Los Angeles Clippers in James Harden's debut (i.e., before they moved Russell Westbrook to the bench) and a Miami Heat team that had an 18-point lead with just over 10 minutes left in regulation before malfunctioning on offense.
