Battered team playing much better than record indicates
NEW YORK — The Knicks are a far better team than their record would suggest.
If there’s anything for the Knicks management, players and fan base to hang their hats on, it’s how dominant the team playing at Madison Square Garden was before the injury bug infested the building.
The Knicks looked like bona fide championship contenders immediately after the OG Anunoby trade, rattling off 16 wins in the 19 games following the deal.
They have since lost four in a row and five of their last six, culminating with a predictable 18-point loss to the Orlando Magic on Valentine’s Day.
The length of the Knicks’ injury report made defeat an easy call.
Donte Divincenzo sat on Wednesday with a right hamstring strain.
Bojan Bogdanovic, in just his third game as a Knick after the Detroit Pistons trade, was sidelined by a left calf injury, and Isaiah Hartenstein missed his third straight game with a recurring bout of left Achilles soreness.
Those are only the complementary players who were forced to sit the final game leading into the NBA All-star break: Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) and Anunoby (right elbow surgery) have each been out since Jan. 27, and starting center Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) hasn’t played since Dec. 8.
The Knicks are 4-5 since Randle and Anunoby sustained injuries and 21-13 since Robinson suffered the
stress reaction in his left foot.
And they are 16-7 since the deal that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors for Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn.
Flynn was subsequently traded to the Detroit Pistons in the deal that brought Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to The Big Apple.
The Knicks now have legitimate depth, and with Brunson’s ascent to All-stardom, they have legitimate star power.
Especially when Randle returns to the lineup — and even more so when Anunoby heals from the minor procedure to remove a loose bone fragment from his right shooting elbow.
Here’s a look at what your Knicks starters could look like, assuming Robinson — a dominant screen-setting, rim-protecting and rebounding lob-threat of a big man — comes off the bench when he returns to the rotation following his rehab from surgery.
Starting: Brunson, Divincenzo,
Anunoby, Randle, Hartenstein — who led the Knicks on separate five- and nine-game winning streaks before both Randle and Anunoby went down with their respective injuries.
This lineup has played 180 minutes together over 10 games following the Dec. 31 deal with the Raptors and has outscored opponents by 16.6 points per 100 possessions, according to data from the NBA’S stats page.
An interesting note: In the 41 minutes head coach Tom Thibodeau has played Josh Hart with the starters in place of Divincenzo, the Knicks have outscored opponents by 60.2 points per 100 possessions.
This is the best net rating of any five players to play 40 or more minutes for any team this season.
The lineup of Brunson, Achiuwa, Hart, Anunoby and Quentin Grimes ranks fourth on the net rating list, outscoring opponents by 45.5 points per 100 possessions this season.
Grimes, of course, is no longer in New York, having been shuttled to Detroit as part of the deal.
Thibodeau traditionally likes a nine-man rotation. If Robinson were to come back, his return could force Thibs’ hand to play 10 men.
Miles “Deuce” Mcbride is shooting the three at a 40.7% clip this season. Factor in his hounding defense and youthful exuberance, and Thibodeau could have 11 players at his disposal on any given night.
Twelve if you consider Jericho Sims, a bouncy thirdyear big man who Thibodeau singled-out as the standout in training camp in Charleston, SC.