Knicks Blow Big Lead, Fall to 1-2

NY's two most significant issues could be interrelated. The Knicks need to create more three-point attempts and get Karl-Anthony Towns more involved offensively.

Final Score: Knicks 104 - Cavs 110
Record: 1-2

After an impressive victory over the Pacers on Friday, the Knicks looked like they were headed to a second straight win, sitting on a comfortable 13-point lead midway through the third quarter Monday night at MSG. However, New York's offense stagnated, and the defense fell flat. When the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks had lost their second game of the season. And worse yet, they saw one of their critical contributors limp to the locker room late in the contest.

While it's far too early to panic (it is important to note that New York's two losses have come against the only 4-0 teams in the NBA), some disturbing trends that need correction have popped up early this season. 

Arguably, the team's two most significant issues could be interrelated. The Knicks need to create more three-point attempts and get Karl-Anthony Towns more involved offensively.

New York currently ranks dead last in the NBA in 3PT attempts. They are the only team in the league averaging fewer than 29 shots per game from behind the arc. Through three games, Knicks opponents have attempted 127 triples, while the Knicks have put up just 65. That's a math problem preventing wins. This is partially frustrating because they have been efficient from downtown, making 37.6% (the seventh-best mark in the league).

Much has been made recently about the NBA's overreliance on long balls and how the league office needs to step in because the surplus of 3PTs has impacted the quality and enjoyability of the product on the floor. While that is a conversation for another day, the reason teams continue to launch threes at a historic rate is because analytics departments have figured out "3 > 2."

During the 2023-24 regular season, the Celtics and the Mavs led the NBA in 3PT attempts (42.5 and 39.5, respectively). Maybe we should not have been shocked that those two teams advanced to the NBA Finals. The other teams that averaged over 37 treys a game last season also all finished at least 10+ games above and made the playoffs. 

When New York traded for Towns (arguably the best-shooting big man in league history), there was plenty of chatter about how the Knicks' offense would evolve by incorporating a Stretch Five and playing 5-out basketball. 

That has not been the case. 

Which brings us back to KAT, and his lack of looks. 

Towns ranks fifth on the team in total FG attempts through three games. Despite playing 35 more minutes than Cam Payne, KAT has attempted just two more shots. And Payne has put up twice as many three-pointers (12 to 6). Part of that is Payne shooting too much, but the bigger problem is Towns' dangerously low usage rate (19.2%).

KAT is averaging just 9.3 FG attempts per game this season. Per Basketball Reference, it's the first time since January of 2018 that Towns has attempted fewer than 12 FGs in three consecutive contests. And it's the first time in his career he's attempted fewer than 30 total FGs over the first three games of a season.

The Knicks enjoyed plenty of success running high picks-and-rolls with Towns and Brunson during the preseason. The duo ran 68 pick-and-rolls during the exhibition season, by far the most in the NBA. No other pair of teammates ran more than 42 P&Rs. Yet, we haven't seen Thibs spam that action in games that count.