Dylan Backer
The New York Knicks have won three consecutive games, but all of which have been ugly, and against bad teams. It took a double-digit comeback to beat the tanking Jazz and the depleted Warriors, and they blew a 17-point lead and had scrape their way to victory over the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks need to start games better
In long seasons, stretches like this will happen for any team, but the trend of starting games slow has gone on too long for this Knicks. Against the Warriors, who were missing essentially their entire normal rotation, the Knicks found themselves down by 21 points in the second quarter.
Poor defense and sputtering offense is what has led to these slow starts. New York owns just a -18.0 net rating in the first quarter over the last six games. That ranks 28th in the league, just below the Washington Wizards who allowed Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat to score 31 points in the first quarter alone of his 83-point game.
Head coach Mike Brown was very displeased following the win over Golden State, emphasizing the need to start games stronger and with a better focus on physicality.
“I was not happy with the way that we started the game and the way we played most of the game…we have to figure out how to start games better,” Brown said (h/t SNY).
Do changes need to be made?
Brown alluded to the possibility of making a tweak to the starting lineup, though he was noncommittal to such a change. New York has seemingly had issues finding a consistent rhythm all season long, and they are now finding themselves having to play catch up regularly.
The Knicks can get away with having a slow start against tanking teams, but they will not get away with that against their opponents in the playoffs. Good teams will make them pay for starting the game off poorly, so they need to find a solution fast with only 13 games left in the regular season.
While they are fortunate to still have won the last three games, they still have quite a bit of work to do ahead of the playoffs. Hopefully, their next set of games yield better opening results.
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