Mikal Bridges and the Knicks defense frustrated Chet Holmgren and the Thunder in a tight, 103-100 loss on Wednesday night.
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NEW YORK — And to think there was a time not long ago when the New York Knicks’ defense was in the same raggedy conversation as the 19-win New Orleans Pelicans.
That was when New York and New Orleans were the only two teams in the NBA to rank in the bottom 10 in both opponent field-goal attempts at the rim and from 3. Most good teams are OK giving up one of those things, not both. That’s part of why it was so hard to buy into this Knicks team as a true title contender, despite the abundance of talent and the victories.
They didn’t guard, and in the rare instances that they did, a putrid quarter, half, game or week on that end of the floor seemed to soon follow.
Now, New York is in a different conversation — one that could propel this team to the NBA Finals if it remains committed to the bit.
Since Feb. 1, the Knicks are the fifth-ranked defense in the NBA. The improved physicality and cohesion on that end has helped them play their best basketball of the season, including going toe-to-toe with the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night before ultimately going down, 103-100.
“It’s been great to see our team on the court making adjustments for ourselves on the fly,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It’s been working out really well for us on the defensive end. We’ve been challenging ourselves to be a better defensive team because we know that is what it’s going to take to win playoff series. It did last year. It wasn’t the offense, it was the Mikal Bridges steal in Boston in Game 1 and 2. It was the big rebounds in Detroit. Those are the types of things that gave us a chance to win.
“The offense gave us a chance to win, but the defense won us the game.”
From Christmas until the end of January, the Knicks were the 24th-ranked defense in the NBA. If a team had multiple ballhandlers who could get past their man one-on-one or enough shooters on the outside, it could beat New York. The Knicks were 7-9 from Dec. 25 thru Jan. 25 primarily due to their inability to string together stops with any consistency. New York gave up 130 points to the Pelicans. It gave up 130 to the 76ers. The Mavericks came into Madison Square Garden and put up 114 points.
It was after that loss to Dallas on Jan. 19 that things changed, like a flipped switch, but no one was able to credit one person for turning the lights on.
The team started to funneling ballhandlers to the sideline and baseline more often, after having funneling teams to the middle more often. That method left the Knicks vulnerable to drive-and-kicks and slow rotations, and teams often made them pay. Outside of that tweak, though, no one has copped to any other structural changes. As trivial as it sounds, they say they just started caring more. The team has defended with more physicality, and communicated louder and with more regularity. The help defender is getting help.
In short, pride and trust took over.
Before the loss to the Thunder, the Knicks held three straight opponents to under 100 points, included the Spurs and Raptors. Oklahoma City’s 103 points were the second lowest total for that offense since Feb. 1.
New York isn’t just putting the clamps on bottom-feeding teams. It’s stifled some of the league’s best offenses.
“Our guys are trying to play defense without fouling, and they’re doing a pretty good job with it,” head coach Mike Brown said. “We’re still going to get better in that area. It’s been a process. We made the switch defensively a couple of months ago, and that was a process. Our guys are pretty comfortable with what we’re doing right now, and they know exactly what they should be doing out there. Again, it didn’t happen with one practice. It didn’t happen because a switch got turned on. It just gradually happened. I’ve said this before, that’s what the regular season is for. You take this and take that and try to get a little better here and there, and then, hopefully, by the end of the season, you’re at a point where you’re fairly comfortable and can start trending upward.”
Other subtleties during this Knicks defensive 180 include Landry Shamet rounding into form since missing time with a shoulder injury. The veteran who signed a non-guaranteed contract in the offseason has been critical to New York’s defensive run as of late. He’s one of the best on the team at defending with his chest and fighting through screens. At the point of attack, he and OG Anunoby are as physical as defenders as the Knicks have, and Shamet might be the best equipped to guard shiftier ballhandlers.
Shamet’s presence also allows Bridges to play more possessions off the ball, where he can shine. He and Anunoby, one of the best off-ball defenders in the NBA, have been tremendous at jumping passing lanes and pouncing on drivers while one pass away.
Even Towns has stepped up his defense. He’s been engaged more, whether in drop coverage or hedging in the pick-and-roll. Brunson continues to be an elite, as he called himself, “an under-the-rim rim protector” by drawing multiple charges every night as the low man. The addition of Jose Alvarado has helped. Mitchell Robinson being available, too, has played a part. And Josh Hart has done a good job of making life difficult for bigger, ballhandling wings, like he did against Brandon Ingram in the second half of Tuesday’s victory.
It’s on New York to remember what has gotten it to this point as the postseason approaches. We’ve seen that the Knicks have the ability to defend at a high level. After a rough January, the Knicks have turned the narrative and slowly gotten people back on the bandwagon.
We’ve seen this come and go before. This time, though, does feel a little different.
“It’s put us on a good trend, and we have to continue on that way,” Brunson said. “It’s what we work on and something we’ve been stressing and something that’s been showing when the lights are on. Obviously, when we’re behind closed doors, we’re working at it and talking through everything.
“We just got to convert it into wins.”
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James L. Edwards III is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Knicks. Previously, he covered the Detroit Pistons at The Athletic for seven seasons and, before that, was a reporter for the Lansing State Journal, where he covered Michigan State and high school sports. Follow James on X @JLEdwardsIII.
