The New York Knicks have done everything except beat the NBA’s elite this season. And after this weekend, it feels like they never will.
After the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers thumped New York by 37 points Friday night, the defending champion Boston Celtics pulled out their third double-digit win of the season over the Knicks with a 118-105 victory in Boston on Sunday.
New York lost by 27 points and 23 points in their previous two meetings against the Celtics. The Knicks are 0-7 against Boston, Cleveland and the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, with only two of the seven games being relatively close.
The Knicks went all out this summer to try and become championship contenders. They traded five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges and then turned around and moved Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and another first-round pick to get Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks, who are 37-20, and third in the Eastern Conference have been one of the NBA’s best offenses this season but have been mightily inconsistent on the defensive end.
A large part of the Knicks’ offensive success is having Towns play center. His shooting gravity has helped open up the offense for Jalen Brunson to operate and for Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby to be successful cutters. Bridges and Anunoby have been two of the best corner 3-point shooters in basketball due to the gravity of Towns and Jalen Brunson.
The team’s issues have come defensively, where Towns has often been targeted in the pick-and-roll and asked to be an anchor. When in Minnesota, the Timberwolves went out and paired Towns with Rudy Gobert, one of the game’s best rim protectors, because of Towns’ limitations as a defender playing center. The same issues have transferred to New York, but the Knicks also have to account for Brunson, one of the league’s best players but limited defensively due to his size.
The Knicks desperately need a pick-and-roll defender at the center position and it could come in the form of Mitchell Robinson. The center has been out all season after undergoing ankle surgery last May. There’s a thought Robinson could make his debut over the next week.
Even then, no one knows what Robinson will look like after almost a year off. Also, playing Towns alongside a more traditional center could take away from what makes the Knicks’ offense special.
Ultimately, the Knicks will struggle against the league’s elite teams because teams like Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City can target their weaknesses while not having glaring ones of their own.
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(Photo: Brian Babineau / Getty Images)
