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The New York Knicks made the Eastern Conference finals last season, have a top-10 player in Jalen Brunson, replaced Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown in one of the biggest coaching changes of the offseason, signed a number of veterans to bolster their bench, play in the biggest market in the league and entered the season with the fourth-best odds to win the title. 

And yet, they've felt like something of an afterthought through the first quarter of the season, even among their East rivals. 

Early on, everyone wanted to talk about the Chicago Bulls' perfect start. The Miami Heat's new offense has captured analytic hearts and minds. Disappointing starts for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic commanded attention, as has a surprise surge from the Boston Celtics. The first-place Detroit Pistons have been one of the best stories in the league. Lately, all eyes have been on the Milwaukee Bucks amid the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors. 

There hasn't been much oxygen left over for the Knicks -- who, it must be said, haven't always put their best foot forward. They were 2-3 through their first five games, were still hovering just a few games over .500 in late November and have really struggled on the road (4-6). 

Over the last few weeks, though, the Knicks have started to round into form. Including Tuesday night's comfortable 117-101 win over the Toronto Raptors in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, they've won eight of their last nine games, with six of those victories coming by double digits. Now 17-7 on the season, they have sole possession of second place in the East and are two games back of the Pistons. 

Despite some initial (and expected) hiccups with Brown's new offensive system, the Knicks have been elite on that side of the ball. Their 121.7 offensive rating ranks third in the league, and is up significantly from last season's 117.3 mark. They are sixth in the league in 3-point attempts per game (41) and fifth in 3-point percentage (37.5%), fourth in turnover rate (13.4%) and fifth in offensive rebounding rate (34%). 

Brunson, who poured in 35 points on 13 of 19 from the field in Tuesday's win over the Raptors, has once again been the engine. He's up to 28 points per game, which ranks 10th in the league, on 47.1/35.9/85.7 shooting splits. He's actually taking a few more shots this season than he did last season, but he has far more help. 

The Knicks have seven other players averaging at least nine points per game, and while their bench is still one of the least productive in the league, it's much improved from last season when it was the worst reserve unit by a significant margin. 

Knicks' bench scoring

SeasonPoints per gameLeague rank

2025-26

32

27th

2024-25

21.7

30th

Defensively, the Knicks have been almost exactly in line with where they were last season. Their 113.5 defensive rating ranks 14th in the league, compared to a 113.3 defensive rating and 13th place finish in that department last season. 

They give up a ton of 3s (40 per game, which ranks 27th in the league), but they're generally in the middle of the pack in most categories, and that's despite missing Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby for extended stretches (both are now healthy). They're always going to have some issues on that end with Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, but as long as their offense keeps playing like this, they just have to remain average defensively. 

On Saturday, the Knicks will head to Las Vegas to face the Magic in the semifinals of the NBA Cup. A trip to next Tuesday's championship will be on the line, and, for perhaps the first time all season, all eyes will be on the Knicks. This game(s) is a perfect opportunity for the Knicks to make sure they're no longer overlooked. 

"It's about winning every game, winning every possession," Josh Hart said. "If you do that, you'll get to the end goal. But you can't look past anybody. Can't look past Toronto, can't look past Orlando, gotta make sure we take care of what's in front of us."