New York Knicks: 3 takeaways from the promising start

3. Defense is the name of the game

For a team that couldn’t even defend each other in practice last season, it sure has been quite the transformation for the New York Knicks.

During their 2019-20 season, the Knicks allowed their opponents to shoot 38.1 percent from behind the arc, bad enough for third-worst in the league. Bad defensive rotation and lack of communication in a newly-formed team were culpable for this poor effort.

This year, though, is an entirely different story. Opponents of the Knicks are shooting an NBA-low 30.1 percent from three, as well as 43.4 percent on their field goal attempts, trailing only the Brooklyn Nets. Heck, somehow their opponents are even shooting poorly from the charity stripe.

When all of these numbers are stirred into the pot, the end result is an incredible improvement on the defensive end, allowing for an improvement in their overall play. Conceding just 104.1 points per game, the second-least around the league, has transformed the team’s identity.