KNICKS OFFENSIVE IMPLOSION! Scoring Woes Threaten to Derail Season
The New York Knicks have struggled as of late, dropping three consecutive games, including the first two on a five-game road trip.
A big reason behind the losing streak is Jalen Brunson’s injury, but there is also concerns with the team’s offense.
NBA.com writer John Schuhmann dropped the Knicks two spots in his weekly power rankings from No. 5 to 7.
“The Knicks have scored just 106.3 points per 100 possessions (28th) since the All-Star break, down from 119.9 (second) before the break. That’s the league’s biggest drop by a healthy margin, with the losing streak being their worst three-game stretch of offense all season (101.7 per 100) and their loss to the Clippers on Friday without Brunson being just the second time they’ve scored less than a point per possession,” Schuhmann writes.
“Karl-Anthony Towns (from 59.6% to 49.6%) and Miles McBride (from 52.7% to 45.1%) have seen the seventh and 11th biggest post-break drops in effective field goal percentage among 126 players with at least 200 field goal attempts before the break and 75 since. Towns has seen a drop in the paint, but it’s mostly about 3-point percentage (43.8% vs. 30.8%). The Knicks have shot below 30% from beyond the arc in each of the last three games.”
The teams that ranked higher than the Knicks were the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, who have won 14 consecutive games.
The Knicks will have to rely on Towns, McBride and the rest of the roster to play well on the offensive end in order to survive this time where Brunson will be on the sidelines.
If the Knicks can find a way to keep things rolling, they should be able to hit a stride going into the playoffs.
