One of the most talked-about topics last season was the starting lineup and just how bad it was. Statistically, the lineup of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns was among the worst lineups in the league that played significant minutes, and it certainly didn’t pass the eye test either. Despite playing a whopping 940 minutes together, the most of any five-man lineup in the league, it had a net rating of just 3.3, which happened to be just the 13th best lineup out of the 25
lineups that played more than 25 minutes for the Knicks last season. The spacing was bad, the ball movement was nonexistent, the players were stagnant, the defense wasn’t there, and it showed statistically. It got so bad at one point that Tom Thibodeau, who stubbornly decided to stick with said starting lineup for much longer than fans wanted him to, finally decided to pull the plug and make a change with the season on the line in his final series as a Knicks coach.
Although we’ve had a very limited sample size, the same cannot be said about that same exact five-man unit this season. After the unit produced an offensive rating of 117.7 and a defensive rating of 114.4 last season, they enter today having an offensive rating of 124.7, a defensive rating of 101.2, and their net rating of 23.5 is currently the fourth highest of any five-man lineup that has played more than eight minutes this season. This leads to two major questions. Why have things suddenly changed, and is it sustainable?
I’d say there are three major changes. One of them has nothing to do with the Knicks, their coach, or their players. Through the 37 minutes this lineup has played together, teams have been oddly reluctant to put centers on Hart. If you recall, this lineup got off to a blazing hot start last season and looked like a top-three offense in the league. While they still weren’t among the best lineups in the league, the unit had an offensive rating of 119 and a defensive rating of 112.4, leading to a modest net rating of 6.6. But when oppositions defended Hart with their centers, put a smaller defender on Towns, and forced the Knicks to play differently, they struggled.
For the remainder of the season and the entirety of the playoffs, the five-man group looked like they were stuck in mud. Offensively, a lot of their positions broke down due to a lack of spacing, and they often relied on Brunson to create something out of nothing. And defensively, while Anunoby tried his hardest to be the glue that held the team together, Brunson and Towns being negative defenders, and Bridges and Hart having down years on that end, became impossible to overcome. What the team ended up with was a unit that barely got by on skills and had no real cohesiveness or plan.
So far, with teams not trying their hand at defending the Knicks that way often, the unit has played much better. But some of the credit has to go to the Knicks, their players, and their coach as well. Mike Brown has emphasized pushing the pace, moving the ball, and cutting more often, and that has given more purpose and intentionality to a lineup that often resorted to a heliocentric offense. Brunson has taken the addition by subtraction approach as he’s dribbling less, which has led to more catch-and-shoot opportunities for him. Bridges has taken on some more of the initiation role, as has Towns. Anunoby’s shooting efficiency and aggressiveness from downtown have seen an uptick. And Hart, after getting off to a slow start, has looked like the best version of himself over the last three games.
As is the case with any statement this early on in the season, sample size matters. If Bridges and Anunoby, both of whom have been much better from downtown this season, see some negative regression in their shooting, or if Hart, who’s been amazing recently, gets in his own head again, or if teams go back to putting their centers on Hart, this lineup could see some troubles again.
Yet, there’s still a quiet confidence that one, this lineup, at least under Brown, should have the offensive principles built in to keep them from getting too stagnant, or over reliant on Brunson. And two, so far this season, we’ve seen Brown stay away from depending on this lineup, or at least Hart, too much when it’s not going well. At the very, very least, there should be some comfort in knowing that this is no longer their starting lineup, and that they won’t be playing nearly as many minutes as they did last season. Only time will tell if this lineup is actually a good one. But it is interesting to see the same exact five-man unit look so much better, and perform as one of the team’s best just months after a coaching change.
