It should come as no surprise by now that the Knicks lead the NBA in playing time for their dynamic starting five by a significant margin.
Some may say yes, but why not?
It is clear that they are currently at or near the top of all regular starting units in the league, all of whom were brought to New York by team president Leon Rose in the past three years.
As the calendar flips to 2025 and teams begin preparing for the playoffs, with more than half the season remaining, this is a legitimate concern about the team's bench depth being underutilized. Naturally, the club's fans are watching.
Still, the thriving Knicks and coach Tom Thibodeau have an absolute strength in their starters, who alternate scoring duties and synergize on the court while playing at a high level of efficiency. I'm watching.
With an eight-game winning streak going into Wednesday's home game against the sinking Jazz, the Knicks finished December with a 12-2 record — yes, mostly against a soft schedule patch — and improved to 23-10 overall. Improved.
This is the fourth-best record in the NBA, one game behind the second-place Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
The more seasoned defending champions probably have the edge over the Knicks as a starting unit when at full strength, but Kristaps Porzingis has been limited to 11 games this season due to ankle issues.
According to the NBA website, Boston's core lineup of Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have only played together on the court for a total of 85 minutes through 33 games.
Meanwhile, the quintet of All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, two-way dynamo OG Anunoby, spark plug Josh Hart, and rookies Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges all played together in 30 games in the league. He achieved the highest total of 561 points. .
Towns was sidelined twice and the Harts had one in Monday's road win over Washington.
“We have a game plan to just go out there and try to win, and we know we have a lot of weapons,” Brunson said after the game. “We'll go from there. We'll adjust. It's everyone's goal to win the game.”
Bridges, the league's current Iron Man, having played in 507 consecutive games to start his pro career, currently leads the league in minutes played per game with 39.1, Hart is fifth (37.1), and Anunoby He ranks 11th (36.3 games). Brunson and Towns are also each averaging over 34 minutes.
Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Alperen Sengan, Jabari Smith Jr., and Jaylen Green are the next most active starting group in the NBA with 403 minutes, which is far behind the Knicks but improved. He belongs to the Rockets.
Thibodeau has given up a ton of playing time, but the Knicks have put up some impressive stats to back it up.
Overall, their starting pitchers (including two starters in Jericho Sims and one starter in Precious Achiuwa) lead the league in offensive rating with 93.6 points per 100 possessions.
And in Thibodeau's favorite statistic, net rating (point differential per 100 points), they rank third behind the NBA's best Cavaliers and West Division-leading Thunder.
They also continue to do everything with unprecedented balance in the scoring column.
All but Hart of the Knicks' legendary five-man team have already scored at least 40 points in a game this season, making them the first team in league history to score four points through Jan. 1.
And Hart, living up to his name, showed once again why he's beloved by fans on Monday night with his third triple-double of the season (23 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists) against his hometown Wizards.
Five Knicks starters have cumulative plus-minus ratings of +200 on the season, including Anunoby (+255) and Bridges (+244), among just 19 players league-wide who will play before Monday's game. exceeds. Towns (+230) are ranked 5th, 7th, and 10th, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, the Cavaliers have six of those 19 players, but veterans Caris LeVert and Georges Niang are not regular starters in Cleveland.
“It's all in the flow of the game. We see what's going on and attack from there,” Brunson said. “It's not by design. We're trying to win games and whoever it is, that's going to go with us.
“We're in a good position, we could be better and we're where we are. I'm not satisfied at all.”
