current location:HOME > Sports News > Basketball Hub > Text content

NBA Stats Notebook: Why the Knicks' low-passing offense works so well

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-19)Basketball Hub103

The NBA schedule naturally lends itself to several checkpointsthroughout the season that serve as frames of reference to check ateam's pulse. The trade deadline and All-Star break are typicallyviewed as the midseason opportunities to evaluate performance.

However, for some teams, there's a specific date when theirseason drastically changed. For this year's New York Knicks, thatdate is December 4, 2022.

That night, in a 92-81 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, TomThibodeau trimmed New York's rotation to nine players. Since makingthe tweak, the Knicks are 27-14 and one of three squads with top-10offensive and defensive ratings, per Cleaning the Glass.

New York has bounced up to the fifth seed in a strong EasternConference and only gotten better since acquiring Josh Hart priorto the trade deadline. His addition, marking another importantseason benchmark, has coincided with a seven-game winning streakthat has given this young squad a glow in the nationalspotlight.

The Knicks are fun because they don't have one cure-all playerresponsible for the surge. Sure, Jalen Brunson's off-dribble juicehas changed the game, and Hart has been a seamless fit so far, butthis squad really jells because of collective improvement andsynergy across the rotation.

New York owns the second-best offensive rating innon-garbage-time minutes since Dec. 4, and they are No. 1 since thewin streak began. But interestingly, their scoring distributionlooks nothing like the pass-heavy green flags we associate with"good" offense. Look at some of these ball-movement numbers fromthe league's stats database since Dec. 4:

StatValue (sinceDec. 4)NBARankOffensive Rating116.25thPasses per game265.525thAssists per game21.630thPotential assists pergame38.930thAssist-to-passratio9.6%29th% of makes that wereassisted52.3%30th
Share with friends:

“NBA Stats Notebook: Why the Knicks' low-passing offense works so well” ofrelated articles

2024 NBA Draft Lottery: Hawks get no.1; Wizards, Rockets, Spurs round out top 4

The Atlanta Hawks will have abig decision to make in the offseason after winning the jackpot inthe 2024 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday afternoon.The Hawk...

2024 NBA Playoffs Day 19 Recap: Shorthanded Knicks overcome Pacers

The shorthanded New York Knicksovercame adversity throughout the game against the Indiana Pacersto grind out a tough win in Game 2 of their best-of-se...

Caitlin Clark surpasses Pete Maravich as all-time NCAA scoring leader

She is one of one.Iowa Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clarkmade history on Sunday night by becoming the NCAA’s all-timeleading scorer, surpassing LSU great Pete Ma...

Steph Curry, Sabrina Ionescu to face off in NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Contest

NBA all-time three-point leader and Golden State Warriors guardStephen Curry and WNBA single-season three-point record-holder andNew York Liberty guar...

Grizzlies rout Mavericks without Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr.

Even without stars Ja Morant andJaren Jackson Jr., the Memphis Grizzlies routed the DallasMavericks 120-103 Tuesday night on the road at American Airl...

NBA debuts custom in-season tournament courts for all 30 teams

The NBAtoday unveiled theofficial courts that teams will play on throughout the inauguralNBA In-Season Tournament, which tips off on Friday, Nov. 3 wi...