As everyone continues to focus on the New York Knicks offense and its proliferation of missed threes-pointers, a somewhat shocking development is falling by the wayside: This team ranks fifth in defensive efficiency.
Opening-stretch samples are littered with noise, and must be presented with the usual “It’s still early” caveats. Even by that standard, though, no one had the Knicks fielding a bottom-10 offense while cracking the top five of points allowed per possession to start the season.
There is a real temptation to dismiss these defensive returns. Just as we should expect the offense to rise as New York adjusts to more ball and body movement and three-point volume, we should also anticipate the defense regressing to a mean that’s more reflective of its personnel.