The high-powered Knicks lead the NBA in offensive rating, something they’ve never done for a full season since the league started tracking the metric that measures points scored per 100 possessions.
The Knicks’ league-best offensive rating of 121.0 entering Thursday’s home game against the Hornets also marks their highest since at least the 1996-97 season, according to NBA.com.
“I just think it’s all-around play. Playing unselfishly, creating advantages for each other, taking good shots,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before Tuesday’s 121-106 win over the Magic. “We want to be top 10 on both sides of the ball.
“But I think we established that for the past couple of years, we’ve been pretty highly rated offensively.”
Indeed, Thibodeau’s team finished seventh in the NBA in offensive rating last season at 117.3 points per 100 possessions, and fourth in 2022-23 at 117.0.
Only two other times in the previous 25 seasons had they ranked in the top 10 — a third-place finish under Mike Woodson in 2012-13 (109.8) and fifth under Mike D’Antoni (109.9) in 2010-11.
As championship-winning Nuggets coach Michael Malone said recently before the Knicks put up a season-high 145 points in Denver, “I hope for all the Thibs haters out there who say he doesn’t coach offense, just to really appreciate their team. Because, offensively they’re elite.”
The revamped Knicks (13-8) boast two players — All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson and imported big man Karl-Anthony Towns — averaging better than 25 points per game.
Their five starters — also including OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and newcomer Mikal Bridges — are collectively averaging nearly 100 (97.8) points, and top reserve Miles McBride also is contributing in double figures at a career-best 11.3 ppg.
The Knicks also lead the league in free-throw percentage (.841) and rank second behind the Cavaliers in both field-goal percentage (.497) and 3-point efficiency (.395).
“It just means the ball’s going in. We’re getting them rotating. We’re making the right plays,” said Brunson, who is averaging a career-best 7.7 assists through 21 games. “And especially our defense, for sure. We get stops on defense and are able to run it. That makes things a lot easier for us.”
The Knicks rank 21st in the league in defensive rating, but they certainly made it look easy at both ends of the floor against a surging Magic squad that came in with the top defensive rating in the NBA and with 12 wins in their previous 13 games.
The Knicks amassed 71 points in the first half and led by as many as 37 in the third quarter to advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
“We knew they were going to be physical, so we used that physicality against them,” said Hart, who recorded his second triple-double of the season. “We got into our sets, and when they converge on the paint, kick out and make shots. So I think we did that. I think we were very selfless.”
Much of that physicality was provided by Towns banging around with Orlando brothers Franz and Moe Wagner, finishing with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
The 7-foot Towns has edged ahead of Denver’s Nikola Jokic to lead the league with 13.1 boards per game.
“We’re just building, we’re building, I think, every game,” Towns said. “We’re getting better, we’re getting more cohesive. I think what’s very good about [Tuesday’s win] is we talk so much about our offense, but I thought our defense was matching our offense, and that’s what was needed for us to be the team that we see ourselves being at the end [of the season].”