I was standing in Penn Station waiting to board my train on my way home from game nineteen of the season, when it hit me that we haven’t covered our boys in orange and blue lately. So this article is truly being written in the immediate aftermath of another Knicks win, their 13th of the season. At 13-6 they’re second in the East, 2.5 games behind the conference leading Pistons. They’re riding a four game win streak as well, which has seen them put up more crooked numbers, advance in the ludicrous NBA Cup, and knock off the red hot Raptors, which I was in the house for Sunday night. What’s been good during this solid start, and what can improve? Let’s dive into it all!

The Good

Brown Can do A Lot of Good for You: This is the first of what will hopefully be a lot of positive UPS puns in the Mike Brown era. Nineteen games into his time at the helm, the Knicks have changed in mostly positive ways, while still have some things to improve. The biggest difference from the perspective of running the game is Brown’s allocation of minutes. Simply put, he uses his bench. We all loved Thibs, but the lack of bench usage was a problem when you’re going for a title. Not just because it allows for rest, but because your backups can find rhythm now they won’t have to search for later. Landry Shamet, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, and others have all seen increased time and it’s making the team better nightly.

Aside from the minute changes, Brown has this team sharing the ball better than they did at any point last year. The rock moves freely around the floor when this team is at its best. It usually ends in a three point attempt, which isn’t always a good thing, but hey, welcome to the NBA in 2025. They could be a bit better on defense but that feels more personnel driven, which Leon Rose will have to address by the deadline. Overall, Brown has this group engaged at both ends of the floor and he’s done a nice job navigating them through early injury trouble.

Nova Boys: As usual, if the Nova trio are hot, the Knicks are too. The captain, Mikal and Josh have been great this season, and frankly I’m not sure Bridges is getting enough love for it. Number 25 is averaging around 16 points per game, a respectable total, but that number doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. If you’ve watched him this season, you see a guy who is far more comfortable than last year. He’s playing great defense, especially in the absence of OG Anunoby, taking away the other team’s best player and also setting up easy transition buckets. It also helps to shoot 41% from three, compared to 34% from a year ago. Maybe the trade was too much pressure last year, maybe he fits Mike Brown’s system better, but honestly, who cares why it’s working. A good Bridges is good for the team.

As for his fellow Villanova alumni, the roommates podcast hosts are the engine of this team. Brunson and Hart have been outstanding, and will need to continue playing that way for this team to achieve its goals. Jalen Brunson has played at an MVP level, don’t believe me, just ask Mike Brown who is campaigning for him already. Meanwhile Hart comes in and out of games and remains the jolt of energy he has been from day one in this uniform. Ya just gotta love this three headed monster.

Home Cooking: The Knicks, unlike the Rangers who lead the universe in odious home outings, have been terrific at MSG. They are an outstanding 10-1 under the pin wheel ceiling, which makes them well worth the price of admission. The atmosphere in MSG is the best it’s been since the 90’s and it’s reflective of how this team makes the audience feel. They are entertainers at their finest, with a New Yorker’s edge and attitude to go with it.

Deuces Wild: Number two rounds out our list of things going right so far. Deuce is the main man right now from the bench with Landry Shamet injured. He got off to a good start on the season as is, but of late he’s been even better. Much like Josh Hart he is a jolt of energy at both ends of the floor for this team, but most importantly he is shooting an outstanding 43% from three. McBride is instant offense and his overall game is coming along with all the added minutes he’s getting under Brown.

Needs Work

Road Blues: Probably the most frustrating thing so far this season has been the team’s play away from home. They are, unlike their roommate Rangers, struggling to put it together on the road with just a 3-5 record. These games have been plagued by a mix of sloppy play and poor execution down the stretch. Now if they manage to have a .500 record or anything along those lines it’d be just fine, but you’re not going to get ahead of the Pistons for the one seed if you’re throwing away games on the road.

Tighten up the D: If you think the road outings are annoying, the defense has that beat. The biggest short coming for Browns team so far has been their defensive work, which is often an unorganized frantic mess. Now I’m sure we’re all willing to give a little defense to improve on offense, but they need to be more under control at that end of the floor to manage games better. They’re middle of the pack defensively, ranking 13th in the league, giving up an average of 114 points per game so far this year. Sure offense is up around the NBA, but you’re not winning a title playing like that. It’s not easy to overcome when Towns and Brunson are not great defensive players at all, leaving Bridges and Anunoby to do the heavy lifting.

Hot and Cold KAT: I want to open this portion of the conversation by reiterating the fact that I remain a KAT defender. He is such a gifted offensive player who can do so much at the end of the floor making him a pleasure to watch. With all that said he can be frustrating on offense as well. He stubbornly plays from the perimeter, which can help the team, but doesn’t help the flow of the offense when they are struggling to score. That perimeter play goes hand in hand with his other shortcoming, which is shot selection. Far too often, when the Knicks are ice cold, you’ll see Towns pull up and jack a three from the logo with 20 seconds on the shot clock. Towns needs to be more committed to playing within the flow of the offense to keep the team out of ugly stretches of games. As I said earlier, when they move the ball, he and the team benefit.

The Grade

Overall so far this season I’ll give the Knicks a B+ for their work through the first stretch of games. It can improve from here but 13-6 is fine work. It’s hard to imagine we used to live in a world where we were happy if they won 13 games total in a season (it was that bad). But now we actually live in one where this team carries the championship hopes of the city, instead of the bad football teams, aimless baseball teams, and hockey teams stuck in neutral. From here they need to continue to improve and gain control of the east in time for the playoffs…but that’s a long way off. For now, enjoy the ride folks!

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.