Is It Time To Worry About The New York Knicks? – Sports Illustrated
The New York Knicks made the NBA Playoffs last season for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they made the second round with Carmelo Anthony.
They went 41-31 and got home court advantage last season, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Atlanta Hawks.
Even with the loss, the season was still a huge surprise around the NBA, and head coach Tom Thibodeau won the NBA's Coach of The Year Award.
This season, they started off red-hot with a 5-1 record in their first six games.
However, they have gone just 7-12 in their last 19 games and have a 12-13 record, which has them under .500 and out of the playoff picture.
They are also just 5-8 in 13 games at Madison Square Garden.
Through the first 25 games of the season, the Knicks have not been a good basketball team.
Their offense is below average in two huge categories; they are 19th in the NBA in points per game (106.9 PPG) and 24th in field goal percentage (44.2%).
Over on the defensive side, they are 17th in points per game allowed (107.9 PPG).
All of this was after beginning the season 5-1.
Now, they have also taken Kemba Walker (signed this past offseason) out of the rotation, and the four-time All-Star has not played in each of the team's last five games that he was active.
The guard position is something that they will need to figure out before it's too late, because even if they turn their season around, they will struggle in the playoffs without strong guard play.
Right now, Julius Randle is their leader in assists per game (5.2 APG), and that needs to change.
While Derrick Rose has been huge for them, he cannot be the only answer, they need to either put Walker back into the rotation and have him play better, or go out and get another guard in a trade.
This early in an 82-game season, it'd be silly to panic, but they do have some serious flaws right now that are going to foreshadow the rest of their season if they don't figure them out in the near future.
