{"id":161145,"date":"2025-09-30T21:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=161145"},"modified":"2025-09-30T21:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:52:13","slug":"three-things-to-expect-in-knicks-preseason-games-in-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/30\/three-things-to-expect-in-knicks-preseason-games-in-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Things To Expect In Knicks Preseason Games In Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABU DHABI \u2014 The New York Knicks<\/a> open their preseason against the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> on October 2 and 4 in Abu Dhabi. These exhibitions often lack urgency, but they serve a larger purpose. For the Knicks, the Preseason\u00a0trip to Abu Dhabi offers a first glimpse of Mike Brown\u2019s new approach. The coach has already promised changes, and the desert setting will highlight them.<\/p>\n

Three Things To Expect In Knicks Preseason Games In Abu Dhabi<\/h2>\n

A Tale of Two Halves<\/h3>\n
\"The
Mar 26, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) is restrained by center Mitchell Robinson (23) in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brown plans to split the rotation early. He confirmed he will limit regular players to first-half minutes in both games. \u201cThese first couple of games here, I\u2019ll tell you, for sure, is I\u2019d like everybody to have an opportunity to play in both games,\u201d Brown said<\/a> after practice.<\/p>\n

He emphasized the travel and the grind of camp. \u201cBecause this is a long way to come. Everybody\u2019s been busting their behind, and so I want to make sure that everybody gets some form of minutes while we\u2019re here for these two games.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means the core nine or ten will likely sit after halftime. For fans, the intrigue lies in who plays alongside the starters. Nonguaranteed veterans Malcolm Brogdon<\/a> and Landry Shamet<\/a> could get their first tests in these rotations.<\/p>\n

Double Big Lineups<\/h3>\n

The frontcourt will attract the most attention. Brown has not confirmed the starting five but admitted he is leaning toward a bigger look. \u201cI\u2019m close. I\u2019m close with it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut just because I start somebody now doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s gonna be like this in Game 45.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell Robinson<\/a> appears set to start at center, pushing Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> to power forward according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. The combination echoes last season\u2019s playoff success, when size gave the Knicks their best stretches. Robinson\u2019s health remains a question, but the upside of pairing him with Towns is obvious.<\/p>\n

A New Offensive Flow<\/h3>\n

Pace and variety headline Brown\u2019s offensive philosophy. He wants Jalen Brunson<\/a> shooting more catch-and-shoot threes, not pounding the ball every trip. \u201cThe little bit that we\u2019ve seen so far from Jalen during these optional workouts, he seems like he\u2019s embraced it,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Josh Hart<\/a> echoed the sentiment. \u201cI think the beauty of where we are kinda talking about with Mike and that is obviously getting him off the ball, getting other guys involved a little bit more, finding areas where guys can be at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks need Brunson fresher as he nears 30. A balanced system keeps him healthy and teammates engaged. In the Abu Dhabi preseason games, expect glimpses of that balance from the Knicks. Will Mikal Bridges<\/a> or OG Anunoby<\/a> initiate when Brunson moves off the ball? Or will Hart shoulder more responsibility?<\/p>\n

What To Watch<\/h3>\n

Exhibitions rarely reveal too much. But for the Knicks, these two contests matter. The Knicks preseason trip to Abu Dhabi offers the first clues about lineups, rotations, and a changing offense under Brown.<\/p>\n

ABU DHABI \u2014 The New York Knicks open their preseason against the Philadelphia 76ers on October 2 and 4 in Abu Dhabi. These exhibitions often lack urgency, but they serve a larger purpose. For the Knicks, the Preseason\u00a0trip to Abu Dhabi offers a first glimpse of Mike Brown\u2019s new approach. The coach has already promised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":161166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,12,3],"tags":[50244,49719,1417,213,3717,1616,48967],"class_list":["post-161145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-knicks","category-news","tag-2025-26-nba-season","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-mike-brown","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-nba-preseason"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161145"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161168,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161145\/revisions\/161168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}