NEW YORK – The New York Knickerbockers are tired. But not physically.
They are tired of underachieving, whether expectations were even realistic, year after year. Tired of hearing fans complain about that underachieving, and tired of the media asking about – you guessed it – underachieving.
At the beginning of every season, the question isn’t whether this is the season the Knicks put it together and win a championship, but in what spectacular way the failure is going to be excused.
The counter for some Knicks fans is, “at least we’re not the New York Jets.”
Well, that’s not saying much.
The NFL’s worst team certainly wouldn’t appreciate that snide remark, but New Yorkers expect and demand the best, whether it’s from their sports teams or anything else associated with the five boroughs.
The championship drought is five decades long for both teams, and the Knicks want to make sure the Larry O’Brien Trophy, currently in the possession of the Oklahoma City Thunder, makes its way to midtown Manhattan sooner rather than later.
It’s still very early in the 2025-26 season, but it is evident this version of the Knicks is drastically different from the team Tom Thibodeau trotted out the last five years. For all the good that Thibodeau did, including getting the team to its first Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, he was still given the pink slip.
Two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown was brought in to change that narrative and get New York over that ever-expanding hump.
Brown has implemented an up-tempo style designed to get up more 3-point shots, much to the benefit of All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who at times last season was relegated to one-on-five basketball. (He still averaged a career-high in assists.)
That strategy was tested in the first two games against two conference foes, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, whom the Knicks eliminated last spring in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Not known as a 3-point shooting team, the Knicks fired up 40 from behind the arc in their season opener, a 119-111 victory over Cleveland, and 45 more in a 105-95 win over the Celtics two nights later. Boston is playing without All-Star Jayson Tatum, out with an Achilles injury suffered in the Knicks series.
Brown is also using almost every available body on his bench, going 11- and 10-deep in the first two games, respectively, even without center Mitchell Robinson, who played only 17 games last season and is sidelined as he recovers from ankle surgery. Forward Josh Hart, who didn’t play against Cleveland after a preseason back injury, made his debut against Boston, scoring two points but getting 14 rebounds in just 19 minutes.
“I truly believe this team is a deep team,” Brown said. “We have guys that can play. I like to play a lot of guys. I don’t know if I can play 11 guys every night, but we’d like to play as many as we can. We want everybody ready in case their number is called at any time.”
That rotation means more in-game rest for players like Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds against Boston. No Knick played over 38 minutes in the first two games.
“We don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of,’ Brown said. ‘That’s what makes it exciting. Everybody has expectations. I don’t know if their expectations are any higher than everybody in that locker room. We’re good with that. We embrace that.”
For the Knicks to seriously contend for a championship, defense —a hallmark of Thibodeau’s teams —and balanced scoring will be key. It’s the NBA; any player can go off on any night, but Brown wants those players, especially off the bench, to contribute when their name is called.
Brunson echoed that sentiment, reiterating that the season is young and a lot can change.
“We’re going to harp on this idea of the minutes stuff like that, but regardless, we have a lot of players on this team that can make plays and play well,’ said Brunson, who had a game-high 31 points against Boston.
New York’s bench had 35 points in the first game, and only 16 against the Cavaliers.
It’s also in the NBA’s DNA for teams to blow leads. New York was up 17 in the Cleveland game before the Cavs came back and took the lead in the third quarter, and the Knicks nearly squandered a 24-point second-half lead against a depleted Celtics team.
The Knicks were one of the league’s best shooting teams last year, hitting 49% of their shots. Through two victories, that percentage has dipped down to 41%, but New York dominated both teams on the glass, gaining 21 offensive rebounds for 21 second-chance points against Boston.
Perhaps Brown said it best after Friday night’s victory. He knows that re-inventing the wheel isn’t the best strategy for beating teams in the league.
“Our guys stayed with it, they didn’t go away from the way we play the game of basketball,” he said.