Four games into a season that has already thrown a few surprises at the Knicks, the win over the Pistons offered a clearer picture of where things stand. It was an emphatic result against the same Detroit group that gave New York headaches last year, and it came with a handful of useful takeaways.
The biggest one starts with Karl-Anthony Towns. Jalen Brunson has been the Knicks’ top dog for most of his time in New York, but right now Towns has been the team’s most reliable player.
Through the first four games of the 26-27 campaign, he has not had a bad outing overall. His scoring has been efficient, his rebounding has been even better than usual, and his defense has held up.
Against the Pistons on Tuesday night, he backed that up with 27 points and 20 rebounds. If the Knicks are going to repeat, Brunson will have to get back to being better.
That probably comes eventually. For the moment, though, Towns has been the Knicks’ MVP.
Brunson’s early offensive line has been rough by his standards. He’s shooting 36.6% from the field and 20% from three, and while it’s fair to expect a rebound, the first four games have been a struggle, especially from deep.
He has been fully cleared after offseason wrist surgery and hasn’t made an issue of it, but there were clips circulating of him shaking out his wrist after a play against the Magic. Whether that’s part of the problem, or how much of a problem it is, isn’t clear.
What is clear is that he has missed a lot of the kinds of shots he usually buries. And with the Celtics, Magic, and Pistons all on the slate early, the level of competition matters here too.
The game also gave the Knicks a much-needed offensive spark from Mikal Bridges. The starters got off to another slow beginning, but Bridges was the one who helped keep New York afloat.
He played with more force than he had shown all season and finally saw a few jumpers drop. Over two full seasons in a Knicks uniform, the regular season version of Bridges has had its swings, but after three straight games without much offensive impact, this looked more like the player New York saw during the postseason run.
Landry Shamet also put together his first solid showing of the season. His 3-for-8 night won’t jump off the page, but he connected on three of his five attempts from beyond the arc and scored more than nine points for the first time this season. For the Knicks, that has to qualify as a step in the right direction.
Tyler Kolek’s box score barely tells the story. He finished with two points, one rebound, two steals and three assists, which is hardly eye-catching.
But he made some strong reads, moved the ball well, got teammates into the right spots, and pushed the pace when he was out there. The sample is still tiny, but there may be something developing between Kolek and Towns.
In the two games Kolek has played this season, he has made a point of getting the ball to Towns. If he can hold his own on defense, that comparison with Jose Alvarado could at least become a real conversation.
Even with the offense clicking in spots, the defense may have been the most encouraging part of the night. The Pistons missed some shots they should have made, and they did get sloppy late, but for most of the final 36 minutes, New York made things difficult.
The Knicks were active, disruptive, and sharp in the passing lanes. Josh Hart deserves particular credit for how well he has defended a week into the season.
There’s still room to clean things up, but this game was another reminder of how dangerous that defense can be.
There’s also a rotation issue worth watching. Deuce McBride has at least stayed in the mix, but his minutes are down in a way few expected.
Instead of playing 25-plus minutes a night, he’s often under 20. Pacome Diawara, meanwhile, has started the season out of the rotation entirely.
The season is still young, and things can change fast, as the Kolek example shows. But this is already becoming a pattern.
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If Brown is unable to go, it would be his first absence of the year and a late change the Knicks would surely welcome as they prepare for the 7:30 p.m. EST tip. Even before the game begins, the injury report has put a little extra weight on what should already be a meaningful divisional matchup. [Read more 🡒]
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It also came with a notable shift in how Brown managed veteran forward Mikal Bridges, whose playing time was noticeably trimmed as the bench earned more trust. Karl-Anthony Towns still supplied 19 points and 13 rebounds despite a brief injury scare, but the broader takeaway was hard to miss: Brown is willing to make tough rotation calls, even in a tight game, and the Knicks may be starting to show a different kind of depth because of it. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Just Put Karl-Anthony Towns Under A Massive Contract Test
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For New York, the bigger issue may be what happens over the course of this season. Towns value to the roster is not really in question, but the front office appears intent on using the year ahead as part of its evaluation, which makes his performance more than just a nightly storyline. The result is a contract situation that feels less like a formality and more like a test of how far the Knicks are willing to go for him. [Read more 🡒]