Mike Brown has been willing to keep pulling levers with the Knicks’ rotation, and that includes games that matter. That’s a bold approach this early in the season, but New York may not have the cushion to keep treating live action like a lab.
Less than 15 games into the year, the usual “it’s still early” line still applies in some places. Brown can still test out combinations like the one he used against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Cup, when Pacome Dadiet got a first-quarter look. He can also keep leaning into the ultra-small groups the Knicks used Friday, with Tyler Kolek and Jalen Brunson together and Deuce McBride or Landry Shamet serving as the nominal power forward.
The issue is bigger than any one lineup wrinkle. The Knicks’ record is starting to say something real.
Research cited in the article points to the same idea: team records begin to tell a meaningful story after only eight games, become nearly 50 percent indicative by 12 games, and reach a 70 percent signal by 24 games. That doesn’t make every early-season trend permanent, but it does mean New York’s 6-6 start can’t just be brushed off as noise.
The Knicks already gave us a useful comparison last season. At the eight-game mark, they were 5-3 with a 5.6 net rating, which put them on a 51-to-52-win pace and fifth in the East. They finished with 53 wins, a 6.4 net rating, and the third seed in the conference.
But the deeper checkpoint mattered more. At 12 games, New York was on pace for 54 to 55 wins, which was close to where it ultimately landed. By 24 games, though, the Knicks were 17-7 and tracking toward 58 wins, and that pace didn’t hold.
That’s why the current start matters. Even if the Knicks finish five wins better than where they are now, that would still leave them at 46 wins, which would not be enough to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs.
So while Brown’s experimentation is understandable, it comes with a cost. The Knicks may like the idea of gathering information, but they are not winning enough right now to justify too much of it.
If Brown is willing to sacrifice a top-four seed for the sake of discovery, then the current approach makes sense. If not, the priority has to shift toward getting results in the moment.
That doesn’t mean Brunson has to be run into the ground. It doesn’t mean Brown can’t yank Bridges or Hart if they’re not taking or making the shots defenses are giving them. It does mean the Knicks need to coach for the next possession, not the next month.
Brown and the Knicks have earned some trust after last season’s roller coaster, when they hit one peak, crashed to rock bottom, and then found another gear when it counted. But that kind of turnaround isn’t something you can count on happening again just because it happened once.
At some point, the experimenting has to stop and the urgency has to take over. The article’s bottom line is simple: the Knicks may already be there.
In Other News...
Knicks Tempers Boiled Over After Another Painful Loss To Indiana
Tempers spilled over after another frustrating night against Indiana, with Jose Alvarado needing to be held back from Pacers guard Quenton Jackson following a postgame shoving and verbal exchange. The scene came after an already heated matchup that had included an earlier on-court exchange between Jalen Brunson and Jackson, adding another layer to a rivalry that has become increasingly combustible for the Knicks.
Brunson did his part with 33 points and 11 assists, but New York still came up short in a 106-104 NBA Cup loss that left the team at 6-6 overall and 0-2 in East Group B. Indiana, meanwhile, moved to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in group play, and the Knicks were left with more than just a narrow defeat to sort through once the final horn sounded. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Are Starting To Show A Frustrating Trend Fans Feared
The Knicks latest loss to the Pacers had the feel of a game they knew they had to have, and for long stretches they just could not quite get it turned around. New York trailed for much of the night before dropping a 106-104 decision, with the kind of small-margin issues that have a way of sticking with a team over time. Free throw disparity and rebounding were both part of the problem, and the Knicks spent much of the evening trying to claw back into a game that kept slipping just out of reach.
Even when the energy picked up and the bench tried to stir things with technical fouls and timeouts, the Knicks never fully erased the deficit. The offense had its own issues as well, leaving New York to lean on late-game urgency instead of steady execution. For a team trying to establish a better rhythm, nights like this are the frustrating ones because they look less like a one-off and more like a pattern fans were already worried about. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Suddenly Have A Tough Center Depth Decision To Make
The Knicks are staring at a familiar roster math problem as the season settles in, and it centers on the back end of the frontcourt. Their third-string centers have been on a short leash for minutes, which has left the team weighing whether to add another body at the position. One name that has surfaced is Lawson Lovering, the seven-foot center recently waived by the Lakers and left unclaimed on waivers.
Lovering brings the kind of profile teams often circle when they need emergency size: rebounding, rim protection and a chance to soak up minutes if the depth chart gets thin. The catch is that a move for him would likely force the Knicks to clear a two-way spot, with guard Jaden Akins the player who could be squeezed out. For a team already managing roster challenges, it is the sort of decision that can quietly shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]