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Knicks Continue to Struggle Despite Play of This Star

The New York Knicks haven’t been good through 11 games. Although the season is still very young, they are not off to the start that Knicks fans were hoping for. The Knicks record to start the season is 5-6 despite the Knicks schedule being quite soft. The Knicks schedule has had them play only three games against teams with winning records; all were losses. One bright spot of the season is Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns’ stats have been phenomenal as he has dominated offensively since the Julius Randle trade, but the team will need to gel soon for their NBA championship hopes to remain. 

Knicks Continue to Struggle Despite Play of This Star

The Knicks Record is Lackluster

Last season, the Knicks won 50 games, resurrected bandwagon fans across the globe, and secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference. After 11 games, they are way below their projected win total of 54.5. The Knicks record of 5-6 shouldn’t start a full-on panic in New York, but the fact that they’ve been losing to other weak teams is certainly concerning. 

Adding new key players to a roster can always result in an adjustment period. Towns and Mikal Bridges are two of the Knicks key starters, and neither were on the team last season. One of the key differences between this season and last season is the team’s defense. Last year, the Knicks were in the top ten in both offensive and defensive ratings. Their offense has improved from seventh to fourth, but their defense has plummeted from ninth to 19th. Swapping out center Isaiah Hartenstein for Towns is certainly an aspect of their declining defense, but Bridges and a healthy OG Anunoby were supposed to make up for it. 

Jalen Brunson Adjusting Slowly

The Knicks MVP last season, Jalen Brunson, is also having a tougher time adjusting to the new roster. Last season, Brunson was a singular offensive force for the Knicks. This year, he has seen a slight decrease in his usage rate from 32.5% to 29.9%. On top of that, his scoring is down from 28.7 points per game last season to 24.3 this season. Brunson likely won’t reach his totals from last season with two new scorers alongside him, but the Knicks are hoping his shooting percentages can improve as the team gels. 

Karl-Anthony Towns Stats Despite Knicks Record

Although Towns may be part of the Knicks declining defense, his offense has been spectacular. He is leading the team in scoring (26.5 points per game) and rebounding (12.2 per game). He also is shooting a career-high from three, making 50.8% of his attempts from range. 

When a star joins a new team, they usually are given some time to adjust, but Towns has hit the ground running. Despite the Knicks uninspiring start to the season win-wise, Towns is certainly exceeding expectations. Hopefully, for Knicks fans, the rest of the team can gel soon because although the Eastern Conference is looking as weak as ever, a sub-.500 season is unacceptable, given all they traded away to make this team. There’s still 71 games remaining though.

Jeremy Kruger

Jeremy Kruger

"You're not tall enough to make the NBA," they said. They were right. But now Jeremy is doing the next best thing: sharing his passion for basketball with the world through his writing.

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