The New York Knicks hit a recent rough patch. After winning its first two games, New York lost three straight. That worried fans, especially given the quality of teams they lost to. But fear not. With head coach Mike Brown new to his role, there was always going to be a learning curve. Add in the uncertainty around Mitchell Robinson, as well as the missed time from Miles McBride, and the early-season struggles become far less surprising.
Still, after seven games, New York is 4-3, which is a better record than they've boasted through the first seven games of last season or the season prior to it. After winning back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, it's worth examining how those games were won. And doing so should put most concerns about the Knicks to bed, at least for now.
Mikal Bridges quietly starts season off on right foot
Bridges is probably the Knicks' most pleasant, early season surprise. After starting off the 2024-25 season with a cold shooting spell, Bridges rounded into form. And he has built on that (and then some) so far this season.
Bridges is stuffing the stat sheet. He is averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1 block in 35.4 minutes through the team's first seven games. He's scoring efficiently, too. Bridges is sinking 54.5% of his shot attempts, specifically connecting on 48.5% of 3-point attempts. And he is shooting 87.% from the charity stripe as well.
But Bridges' strong play is about more than just stats and efficiency. He has also been a vocal leader. Specifically, Bridges voiced displeasure with his teammates for a lack of hustle after most failed to get back in transition defense on Sunday against the Bulls. That's a good sign from someone who remained relatively quiet for the early part of last season, his first with the Knicks.
Bridges has also served as a de-facto point guard at times, even with Jalen Brunson on the floor. And that, too, aids New York in its quest to remain healthy and give teams different looks. Bridges has advanced the ball up the floor as Brunson plays off the ball, giving Brunson a break from fighting with opposing defenses. And that's something that was badly needed last season when Brunson was the team's only ball handler, at least until former coach Tom Thibodeau turned to Bridges when Brunson was off the floor.
Knicks' rotation is working itself out—and beginning to contribute
With McBride missing two of the Knicks' first seven games and Robinson missing five, there have been rotational challenges due to a lack of continuity. However, the Knicks and its bench took care of business with a healthy squad against the Chicago Bulls at home on Sunday. And they followed it up with an impressive outing against the Washington Wizards in the second night of a back-to-back.
Specifically against the Bulls, the Knicks' bench scored an eye-popping 46 points. And that was followed up with 33 against the Wizards. Comparatively, the 2024-25 Knicks' bench averaged a league-worst 21.7 points per game. So, both recent outings represent a major improvement.
Despite its progress, New York's bench is still not a finished product. After starting the season with a 10+ man rotation, Brown has seemingly tightened his rotation a bit. He's only played nine players meaningful minutes in the last two games. But who has played has changed, and it's due to the changing availability of players like Robinson.
New York prefers to be cautious with Robinson, who didn't play last night given that it was the back end of a back-to-back. That meant a bigger role for Guerschon Yabusele. Yabusele played 14 minutes against Washington after playing just two minutes against Chicago. And this fluid nature of reserve minutes will likely remain for the foreseeable future.
The Knicks will continue to experience growing pains as they figure out which lineups work best together. Guys like Landry Shamet, Yabusele, and maybe even McBride will probably experience varied playing time until Brown determines which players work best with each other. And while progress is rarely demonstrated in a straight line, the Knicks should get better and better as they understand more of what's expected of them. And that should translate into better outcomes.
