The Knicks are off to a great start just not quite as great as they’d like.
At 36-18, New York heads into the All-Star break with one of the best records in franchise history. Since Pat Riley took over in 1991-92, only four Knicks teams have won at least 36 of their first 54 games.
They’re also sending two All-Star starters — Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns — to San Francisco.
The last time the Knicks had two players in the starting lineup at an All-Star Game?
Fifty years ago in 1975, when Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe suited up two seasons after the last championship in franchise history.
And yet, despite these milestones, the Knicks remain third in the Eastern Conference, trailing the reigning champion Boston Celtics and the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
That’s where the frustration lies.
This Knicks team wasn’t built for moral victories.
They didn’t trade five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges and move Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Towns just to suffer a third consecutive second-round exit.
And right now? They haven’t proven they can hang with the league’s best.
The record against contenders tells the story: Two blowout losses to Boston, two decisive losses to Oklahoma City, the West’s No. 1 seed, plus spotty results against the other top teams, including those who muck games up with physicality and brute force.
It’s the reason Brunson didn’t sugarcoat his feelings of the team’s standing after Wednesday’s narrow overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Yes, the Knicks are good, but they weren’t constructed to be good. They were constructed to be among the best, and entering the break, the Knicks are the best of the rest, not the best of the best.
“We haven’t really accomplished anything. We have a long way to go to get to where we want to go,” he said. “It’s all about just taking one day at a time. Right now it’s just to rest and recharge and come back ready to go.”
One thing is clear: scoring isn’t the problem.
If Wednesday’s 149-148 victory over Atlanta is any indication, the Knicks can put up points with anyone.
They enter the break with the second-best offensive rating in the NBA (119.9 points per 100 possessions), trailing only Cleveland.
New York ranks 10th in assists while averaging the fourth-fewest turnovers per game. The Knicks also rank fifth in three-point percentage despite attempting the fourth-fewest threes per game. Plus their five-out offense with Towns at the five creates space for cutting lanes and driving lanes alike.
In short? Offense has come easy in Year 1 of the Brunson-Towns era.
Defense? Not so much.
The Knicks rank 18th in defensive rating (113.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) — bottom half of the league — and their issues are particularly glaring both beyond the arc and in the paint.
New York owns the worst three-point defense in the NBA, allowing opponents to shoot close to 38% from deep. The Knicks allow the fifth-fewest attempts per game, but over time, numbers this bad indicate structural issues — poor closeouts, breakdowns in coverage and a lack of rim protection forcing extra help rotations.
“I think offensively we’re doing great. Defensively we have things to work on — consistency, discipline,” Towns said after his 44-point outburst Wednesday. “But I think those are all things y’all as the media can see from Game 1 to now, where we’re a much better version of ourselves.”
Better? Yes. But good enough? That’s another question.
There’s context, of course, to the Knicks’ defensive struggles. After all, Tom Thibodeau teams hang their hats on getting stops.
OG Anunoby, New York’s best perimeter stopper, has missed five straight games with a right foot sprain.
In those five games, the Knicks gave up 118, 115, 131, 115 and 148 points, and their their defensive rating ranked 26th in that stretch.
Then there’s Mitchell Robinson.
The 7-foot rim protector hasn’t played since Game 1 of the second-round series against Indiana last May — but he’s getting close.
At his best, Robinson is an elite offensive rebounder, a dominant shot-blocker, and a vertical lob threat in the pick-and-roll.
Without him, Towns — an offensive-minded big — has been the Knicks’ last line of defense.
As a result, New York ranks 20th in points allowed in the paint this season. Over the last five games without Anunoby, they rank dead-last.
That’s why this break comes at the perfect time — at least for everyone except the scorching-hot Towns, whose rhythm with back-to-back 40-point performances could be disrupted by a week off.
The Knicks get a chance to rest, regroup and reflect before the final stretch of a season carrying championship expectations.
“We can take some of that stuff, and the things that we need to improve upon, take a hard look,” he said. “This is a good chance. I want our players to get away and reenergize and refocus and then come back ready to head down the stretch.
“But there’s been a lot of fight, a lot of determination. We had to overcome a lot. We still haven’t had Mitch. Precious [Achiuwa] missed a good chunk, and Landry [Shamet] missed a good chunk.”
The Knicks have fought through adversity.
Now, with Robinson and Anunoby returning soon, the team has a chance to paint a much clearer picture.
Are they real contenders?
Or are they still a step behind?
It’s hard to tell at Game 54, but once the All-Star break comes and goes, the sprint to the season finale happens in the blink of an eye.