Finding a Way

Examining how New York created efficient offense without their offensive creator.

Good morning! The Knicks continue their western swing tonight with a 10pm start time in Portland.

The Blazers are 10 games under .500 and have lost four straight games, all against quality opponents, but prior to that they rattled off a stretch of 15 wins in 21 games. With the fourth best defense in the NBA since January 19, the Blazers won’t be a walkover. On the injury front, they’ll be without Deandre Ayton (out for the last month) and likely Jerami Grant (doubtful with a knee) but they could get Matisse Thybulle for the first time this season and possibly Robert Williams as well, as both are questionable.

For the Knicks, everyone besides Jalen Brunson is good to go. Come say hi at halftime.

Finding a Way

Of all the words one might use to describe Tom Thibodeau, “complicated” would not be high on the list.

Personally, he devotes himself fully to the game he loves, while his professional philosophies about said game can probably be scribbled in totality on the back of a cocktail napkin.

Defensively, he believes in protecting the paint, securing rebounds and making multiple efforts. On offense, it comes down to drawing two to the ball and then making the correct read.

Because we tend to view offense as more about sophistication and defense as more about effort, this oversimplification has branded Thibs a defense-first coach. To a certain extent, that is true. Over his 13 NBA seasons, his defenses have ranked 1st, 2nd, 5th, 2nd, 11th, 26th, 23rd, 24th, 4th, 12th, 19th, 10th and currently 14th in the league, for an average ranking of 11.8.

But the offensive rankings of his team - 11th, 5th, 21st, 25th, 12th, 10th, 4th, 13th, 24th, 21st, 2nd, 7th and now 5th, for an average of 12.3 - aren’t far behind.

Thibodeau has made his bones on offense by putting his star players in the best position to succeed. He helped turn Derrick Rose from an All-Star into an MVP, turned Joakim Noah into an MVP candidate and offensive hub, helped Jimmy Butler reach All-NBA heights, flipped Julius Randle from a bad contract into the league’s most improved player, and most recently aided Jalen Brunson’s transformation from overpaid to franchise savior.

But if you take away his primary offensive engine, what is Thibs besides a boatload of bluster?

That was the question following Jalen Brunson’s ankle injury. Even though New York has had very good offensive numbers without their star point guard on the court this season, those have mostly been short stints against backups, and we have two years’ worth of prior evidence that the offense falls apart when he rests. The fear was that the Knicks might sink like a stone in the standings if Brunson’s absence is prolonged, and the first post-JB game against the Clippers did nothing to assuage that concern.

Just like there was probably an overreaction to that loss because of tired legs, cold shooting and LA’s exceptional defense, we shouldn’t get too excited by what transpired against a meh defense on the second night of a back to back, even if it was New York’s ninth best performance of the season by offensive rating¹.

Still, if we go back to the perception that any Thibodeau offense comes down to how well its star player is performing, Monday night was incredibly encouraging. Sure, New York has another All-Star starter on its roster and Karl-Anthony Towns did lead the team with an efficient 26 points, but as we’ve said many times this season, KAT isn’t a traditional shot-creator in that he doesn’t regularly command double teams. We’ve also seen plenty of evidence that Towns alone isn’t a pathway to offensive success.

So how did they do it on Monday night? I’d strongly suggest all of our KFS Patrons to check out DJ Zullo’s video specifically on their utilization of Towns in the first quarter, but that positive process continued throughout the game. Let’s pick things up by examining a few strong possessions from the end of the opening period: