Change or remain unchanged? How does the Nick turn the season around?

Last season's Knicks played quite anticipated results in the playoffs. Although they were unable to reach the end, after being strengthened in the offseason, the outside world also had higher hopes for this team. At the same time, they began to bear greater expectations and pressure.

So, all teams began to discuss some issues around the Knicks:

Can the New York Knicks reappear last season's magic? Can you even go further based on last season?

Reviewing the critical moment of the first game of the playoffs this season, after completing an offensive round, the team defender Brunson fell to the floor again, then grabbed his right ankle with difficulty.

In just ten seconds, for Knicks fans, it was so long that everyone could feel the worry of tens of thousands of fans at the Madison Square Garden. Then, Brunson's teammates ran over from a distance to lend a helping hand to him. Brunson waved his hand and signaled that they didn't have to come over. After a little slowdown, he stood up.

This is a very microcosm of the Knicks in recent seasons.

In the past three seasons, Brunson has been the Knicks' first offensive engine and the most critical symbol of the Knicks, reflecting the team's most powerful team traits at the moment: toughness, resilience, and tenacity.

It is obvious that when Brunson performs well, the Knicks can basically perform stably; and when Brunson falls to the ground on the court, the hearts of the Knicks fans will also be affected; and when Brunson shows up after the confrontation, it is also the moment when the Knicks fans are most afraid of, which is the scene we mentioned above.

But in the end, Brunson stood up tenaciously.

In the first game against the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, Brunson fell to the ground at the last moment of the third quarter of the game, and then he chose to stand up. He scored a free throw and changed his sneakers in the middle of the quarter, then came back to lead the Knicks to perform a crazy counterattack performance in the key fourth quarter, and made a crazy 21-0 offensive. In the end, the Knicks defeated the Pistons 123-112 to win the playoffs.

This season, the Knicks have a regular season record of 51 wins and 31 losses. They are currently leading the Pistons with a score of 3-2 in the playoffs. Although this performance is not too surprising, it is absolutely impossible to say that all these results should be achieved.

Looking back at the Knicks this season, although their strength is still there, it is still difficult to predict what kind of performance they will perform in the playoffs. After all, it has been a year since the fierce battle that ended in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and the team has also encountered many injuries, which eventually became a key factor affecting the Knicks' further development.

Compared with the regular season record of 50 wins and 32 losses last season, the Knicks won one more game this season than last season, and ranked third in the division and one lower than last season. Their head coach is still Thibodeau, and the core team of the lineup is still around Brunson as the core of the ball, as well as Anunobi and Josh Hart.

From some limitations, the Knicks this season still have too many similarities with last season. But from a lot of content, this team is far from last season.

They got a chance to strengthen in the offseason in 2024, and welcomed the All-Star three-pointers Towns and Bridges, but with the playoffs inside player Harten turning to the Thunder and Divinchenzo, Randall and others leaving, the team also lost some of its distinctive toughness.

In terms of team offensive efficiency this season, the Knicks has improved from the seventh in the league last season to the top five in the league this season, but their defensive efficiency has dropped from the ninth to the thirteenth.

Although this fluctuation in different seasons is difficult to systematically quantify, some fans are still clearly shaken about the reorganized Knicks. Last season, the Knicks showed their selflessness and toughness. Even if key players fell one after another, they could still defeat their opponents with wounded soldiers all over the camp. This tenacious spirit also makes them worthy of being favored.

When this season, the Knicks still have the core trio of Brunson, Anunobi and Hart, but when Bridges and Towns replaced Divinchenzo and Hart, the team seemed to lack a hard-working temperament, which also caused some unoptimistic voices. Although it was not completely pessimistic, there was always some uneasiness over Madison Square, as if this team performed well enough, but it would still disappoint people in the end.

It is not difficult to understand why this situation is mainly due to the pressure brought by the team's future expectations. Until last season, since the 2012 season, the Knicks have missed 50 wins in more than 10 seasons.

Their breakthrough results last season are quite optimistic, especially during the playoffs and the Eastern Conference Finals, even though accidental injuries continue to take away the team's core rotation, from Randall, to Anunobi, to Mitchell Robinson, and even Brunson in the end.

When the wounded Knicks lost to the Pacers in the seventh game of the series, the team still received the praise and applause they deserved for their tenacity. The disappointment about being eliminated in the playoffs was actually overshadowed by the outside world's admiration for Nick. It also retains a lot of expectations for fans. If the Knicks can get rid of injuries and maintain a complete team, where can they go?

Perhaps not so good that they beat the final winner of the Celtics in the division final, but who can say that they have no chance to be the last one?

is also based on the results of last season. After entering the 2024 offseason, their main goal is to eliminate this question mark.. Under such urging, the management made full efforts in the offseason signings, from the Nets' trading to the top 3D wing Bridges in the trading market at that time, and the price they paid in this deal was five first rounds.

Then, at the opening stage of the training camp, they chose to package Radell and Divinchenzo to Minnesota for the All-Star Center, the most outside firepower inside player Towns, as for Harten, mainly because of the salary cap limit, the Thunder gave a quote that the Knicks could not match and were forced to watch him leave the team.

For the brand-new Knicks, they gained stronger offensive firepower and greater lineup flexibility, but at the same time they also lost a lot of rebounds and defensive hardness, and there are also some parts that are difficult to digitize: the tough fighting spirit of Divinchenzo and Harten happened to be the special standard of the Knicks last season. Although the team cannot keep Hartten, it is indeed difficult for them to refuse the talent that Towns obviously surpasses Randle.

As for the reorganized new Knicks have become stronger? Or has it become weaker? Or is it just that the lineup plays differently?

Judging from the regular season record this season, the Knicks have roughly maintained at the same level, but fans have been worried about the team's defensive decline and the team's mental losses throughout the season.

Knicks have a bleak record against the Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder in the regular season in the previous league, with 0 wins and 10 losses. In addition, fans have been as always about head coach Thibodeau's crackdown on main players and distrust of substitute rotation. The future prospects of this season are more worrying than last season.

At the beginning of the playoffs, rumors and speculation began to appear in the outside world. If the Knicks were eliminated in the first round this year, or even stopped in the semi-finals, Thibodeau is likely to be dismissed next season.

Although the authenticity of this news remains to be verified, based on the team's lineup talent, the Knicks' core rotation is still slightly inferior to the Celtics and the Cavaliers, and it is difficult to be expected to defeat the above two teams in the seven-game and four-win series. But for the NBA, a league that always has miracles, especially for the Knicks, patience never seems to apply to them.

When a team reaches the divisional semi-finals for two consecutive years, after giving away a large number of draft picks and player chips to upgrade the core lineup, fans will naturally have more expectations. Although Towns has never been known for his tough defense in his nine-year career with the Timberwolves, it should be clear to Towns himself that in the New York Knicks, he needs to meet another expectation from his team beyond his offensive scoring.

For this seemingly similar but different Knicks, can they get a breakthrough in the next few weeks? Can we regain the tenacious spirit of the playoffs last season?

These questions are still worthy of doubt until now before the playoffs. When the Pistons successfully blocked Brunson in the first game and were once pulled to nine points by their opponents in the third quarter, then Brunson was fouled by Schroeder and caused his right ankle to be over-twisted, especially the key right foot that caused him to miss 15 games in the regular season.

Brunson then successfully completed the free throw and then briefly disappeared from the sidelines during the game.

This moment may be the most worrying moment for home fans about the Knicks' future.

"I think he went to get the cloak!" In the post-match interview, Thibodeau was obviously optimistic about this critical moment. As for Brunson, he also gave his direct response:

"No surprise, I just changed my shoes."

Of course, some things have changed.

Downs quickly scored five points in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the game. Then Payne Jr. scored consecutively to help the team equalize the score, and stood up at this critical moment as another key reinforcement for the New York offseason. Then, under the foundation of these two key reinforcements, Brunson regained his core value and once again demonstrated his ability to score strongly.

At the critical moment, Towns stole the Pistons' baseline serve and assisted Brunson to make a quick break layup. After a small climax, the game situation changed in an instant, the Knicks regained the double-digit lead, and the emotions of home fans were instantly ignited. This feeling was completely like last season, which seemed different, but was so similar.

Currently, the Knicks have won a 3-2 lead against the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, only one goal away from advancing. If you pass the level successfully, the next round of opponents will come from the defending champion Celtics. At that time, no matter whether the team's combat effectiveness, strength and hardness or the success of the offseason trading, you will naturally get the answer you deserve in the face of the final success or failure.