Blazing

Let's go back and dig into some of the top plays from Wednesday's victory

Good morning! As promised, please enjoy this bonus newsletter to make up for today’s shorter than usual edition. In it, I go through a handful of plays that were so nice we had to show them twice. Also, now that I’ve gone and wonked up the normal schedule, expect tomorrow’s Mailbag to come your way closer to the late morning or early afternoon. Apologies all.

News & Notes

Yesterday Tom Thibodeau gave a few positive updates on a couple of injured Knicks, noting that while Mitchell Robinson’s return to play will be a “long progression,” he has begun on-court work without running. Thibs also expects Precious Achiuwa to be cleared for practice at some point on the road trip. There was no update on Deuce McBride.

Right now, any reinforcements would be a welcome sight for a Knicks team that continues to play an eight-man rotation, and really closer to a 7.5 man rotation considering how little the eighth man (Kolek last night, Dadiet on Monday) sees the court.

The biggest question will be whether Precious’ return pushes Jericho Sims out of the rotation. We could see them play together, or it’s even possible we see some time with KAT at the four alongside one or both of the other bigs. At this point, nothing would surprise me.

Blazing

If only it was that pretty every night.

There is something about the game of basketball that rises above the aesthetic of any other sport when it is being played as intended. For stretches last night, that’s what we got out of the Knicks.

How good are they playing? Basketball Reference keeps track of stats for relative offensive and defensive ratings, which measure how well a team’s offense and defense are doing relative to the rest of the league. The stat goes back to 1950, and in all that time before this season, the best single Knicks unit belonged to the ‘92-93 club, which was 8.3 points per 100 possessions stingier than the league average at that time.

That record is now in jeopardy, as the current offense is outpacing league average by 9.7 points per 100 possessions. For context, the best relative offense in Knicks history belonged to the ‘12-13 club, which outdid league average by 5.2 points per 100 possessions. The scary part? This group may not have hit its stride yet.

But last night wasn’t all about offense. The overall defensive number wasn’t great - a 121 defensive rating, which is actually worse than their season-long number - but they had their impressive moments, one of which will start us off today: