The Knicks begin the second half of their season on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden against the Chicago Bulls, looking to continue what has been as good a season as they have had this millennium.
With a 36-18 record, the Knicks have not won this much in their first 54 games since the 1996-97 season — a feat that had only been done two other times since the 1991-92 campaign.
The goal is to improve on a recent trend of second-round playoff exits. They were bounced from the conference semifinals in each of the last two seasons and have not made the East final in 25 years. They also have not made an NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
Does that change this season? Here are three things to keep an eye on over the final two-month stretch run.
Beast slaying
For as good as the Knicks’ first-half record was, they were simply mediocre against winning teams. New York is 24-6 against teams with losing records and just 12-12 against those with marks of .500 or better.
They were served a slice of humble pie before the break on Feb. 8 when the reigning champion Celtics dominated them in a 131-104 at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks’ schedule does not allow for much of a reprieve before the playoffs—and they also have a lot to prove.
Per Tankathon, the Knicks have the second-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA this season, headlined by three games against the East’s No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and two more against the Celtics, whom they have looked overwhelmed against.
On the shoulders of stars
Just how far can Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns carry this team?
So far, it has been good enough for the No. 3 seed in the East. Brunson is averaging 26.1 points per game as a top-10 scorer in the league, while Towns is posting 24.7 points and a career-best 13.4 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the NBA.
They became the first Knicks tandem to start an All-Star game in 50 years, which is nothing more than a consolation prize for a franchise that has not made an Eastern Conference Final since 2000 and, more well-known, hasn’t won a championship in 52 years.
The workload is only going to increase as the stakes rise, and both stars are already averaging roughy 35 minutes per night. In fact, the Knicks’ entire starting five (Brunson, Towns, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby) rank within the NBA’s top 26 for most minutes played per game.
How much does Mitch help?
The return of center Mitchell Robinson is nigh, which will provide an immense boost for this Knicks team. It will provide a bona fide backup option behind Towns and help shore up some glaring issues that have emerged this season.
For a squad that was supposedly bringing back the idea of stifling defense, New York’s unit ranks 18th in defensive rating, dead-last in opponents’ three-point shooting percentage, last in blocked shots per game, 25th in defensive rebounds per game, and 20th in opponents’ points in the paint per game.
Robinson, who is finishing up his recovery from surgery last spring, will help out most of those lagging numbers. He is a premier rebounder (especially on the offensive end) and rim protector behind 1.9 career blocks per game.
Had he played at least 2,000 minutes last season, his defensive rating of 109.3 would have ranked ninth in the entire NBA.
