The air feels crisper when there’s Knicks basketball on TV, doesn’t it?
The 2025-26 Knicks got their preseason off to a good start on Thursday, winning the first of their two games in Abu Dhabi over the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-84.
Of course, it’s preseason. Aside from just being the first real Knicks basketball we’ve gotten in just over four months, there’s not much from these games that should matter. Although we got a pretty regular first half, these guys are still working out kinks and facing a Sixers
team without Paul George and Joel Embiid (O/U 25.5 games where both miss).
That doesn’t mean that everything is meaningless. Maybe another year, but with a team full of new faces and a new head coach, it’s the first insight into what might be different this year. The last time the Knicks played a basketball game without Tom Thibodeau as coach was March 11, 2020. How does this team work with a new coach and a new mentality? That, among other things, are things we can take away.
What Doesn’t Matter
The Outcome
The Knicks are 1-0 in the Mike Brown era. Therefore, they are on pace to win the NBA Finals. Time to make plans for the Canyon of Heroes.
While I’m with you on believing this team can make a run, the result of this game meant nothing. The starters were pulled at halftime, OG Anunoby didn’t play, and Josh Hart exited early with an injury/ejection. It didn’t matter if they lost by 30 on a 40-piece by Justin Edwards, it means nothing.
Starting Lineup
I originally was going to make this solely about the decision to start Pačome Dadiet in Anunoby’s absence, but the decision to start Mitchell Robinson is also not something to think about too hard.
First, Dadiet. I was surprised to see Dadiet with the starters, but I understand it. They wanted to give the first half a real game feel and decided to keep the bench unit together. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to let a 20-year-old developmental prospect run with the big boys in a meaningless game. He looked great on defense, but missed a bunch of wide-open threes.
Mike Brown has made it clear that the fifth starter has not yet been determined. It feels like Mitch is the current favorite (and his performance today didn’t hurt), but I imagine he’ll be experimenting with different lineups all preseason before making a decision for Opening Night in 18 days.
Individual Performances
The starters didn’t look great despite a favorable matchup. Guerschon Yabusele was a bit rough at times. Garrison Matthews became Ray Allen. Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson looked like Kobe & Shaq.
It’s early. It’s one game. Don’t read too much into anything, especially the negative. There are some things that looked good that I’ll say matter, but I wouldn’t blame you if absolutely nothing in this preseason moves you at all.
Josh Hart’s Injury (?)
The No. 1 goal of EVERY team’s preseason is to stay healthy. Josh Hart apparently didn’t get the memo:
Hart grabbed a rebound but was pressed by Kennedy Chandler, trying to push the pace. He stumbled, banged his back, and, in a desperate move to avoid a jump ball, chucked the ball away. Unfortunately for Hart, it landed in the stands, and he was ejected. It’s a soft ejection, but an automatic rule, even if there was no malicious intent.
Regardless, Hart is fine. Coach said after the game that he has lower back soreness, and he seems upbeat on social media. Go enjoy Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Josh. You don’t need to suit up.
What Does Matter
Mike Brown’s Offense: A Sneak Peak
Statistically, you could do a deep dive here and do a film review and all that. I’ll just tell you what my eyes saw. It’s preseason, after all.
We know what a Thibodeau offense is. We don’t know if what happened last year was schematic or necessary with the personnel. We know that last year, the Knicks didn’t shoot a lot of threes and relied too much on Jalen Brunson playing hero.
Now, what happened today doesn’t mean it’ll be what we see when the real games begin, but what it looks like is that the Knicks will shoot more threes and move the ball more.
39 threes attempted. They attempted 34.1 last year, fourth-least in the NBA. Only 14 times all season did they attempt more than 40 threes. Including the playoffs? Just 15 times out of 100. They need that volume to go up with the shooting talent on this team. It looked like they were looking for open shooters. Did they shoot poorly? Sure, but it doesn’t really matter. Expect more triples this year.
As for the ball movement, we didn’t see a lot of Brunson dribbling the air out of the ball. Ball movement will be a key part in producing more open looks, but I do have a worry with taking the ball out of JB’s hands. There aren’t many dudes on this roster who can be the secondary ballhandler, especially if Hart is on the bench. It looked a bit clunky early on when Mikal Bridges was running the action.
Deuce Looks Confident
There were multiple points in this game that I saw myself acting like John Wall in this clip after a great shot by Deuce McBride:
McBride made his two spot-up threes, which is important. When the Knicks are at their best, McBride is clicking from behind the arc. It was what he did when he had the ball that impressed me:
Running the offense and driving hard to the rim? A one-legged stepback fadeaway? Where did this come from? McBride has played like a 2-guard in his young career, but if he took a step forward with his ballhandling…
Big Mitch Looks Healthy
18 minutes. 16 rebounds. Was it against the likes of Adem Bona and Johni Broome? Sure. But who cares? Watch Mitch dominate.
A healthy Robinson would be a game-changer for the Knicks. With Opening Night under three weeks away, he damn sure looks healthy.
Jordan Clarkson’s Shot Selection
We can’t only be positive. That’s not impartial journalism.
Clarkson has some bad habits he needs to shake. When Mike Breen said that he’s never seen a shot he doesn’t like, he was right. Some of these shots were bizarre, even if they went in.
Knicks Basketball Is Back
If anything at all matters, it’s this. We finally got basketball back in our lives. That’s worth celebrating enough.
