A Knicks Season Recap at the All-Star Break

54 games down. The Knicks are 36-18 and sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference. 50 wins is in their sights, and a strong stretch out of the All-Star break is needed to keep the momentum high heading into the playoffs

As a die-hard that endured the 15-67 Knicks and the David Fizdale era, I'm more than happy with where the team is at coming out of the 2024-25 All-Stark Break. Tom Thibodeau plays his starters far too many minutes than they should, and they still can't hang with top-tier talent in the Celtics and Thunder, but overall, the Knicks are once again having a very successful season. At the break, they are in sole possession of the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a 5.5 game buffer between them and the fourth seeded Pacers. The top three in the Eastern Conference -- the Cavaliers, Celtics and Knicks -- feel like locks to hold those spots by season's end given the drop off in competitiveness after those fourth and fifth spots in the East.

Despite their inability to beat the Thunder or the Celtics, this team is humming at the All-Star break. Tom Thibodeau has the Roommates Show + a supporting cast of All-Stars and solid role players gelling together. After an uneventful trade deadline, where team president Leon Rose stayed firm and did not offload any assets, the Knicks look to continue their success with the guys they have throughout the next two months of the season.

Posting a record of 36-18, the Knicks are in a strong position to finish in the top 3 of the Eastern Conference come season's end. So, what has worked for this squad that has allowed them to click so well through mid-February?

All-Star caliber starting five

All five guys are objectively playing the best basketball of their careers and will likely continue to do so through the second half of the regular season.

• Jalen Brunson is averaging 7.5 AST per game, his highest in any season to date. Although his 3PT percentage is down slightly compared to the last two seasons, he is averaging 26.1 PPG, the second highest mark of his career. He's the captain for a reason. As a leader, he reminds me of Derek Jeter from those incredible Yankee teams of the 1990's and 2000's. The dude is the epitome of durability, having played in all but one game so far this season. All roads run through Brunson on this team.

• Karl Anthony-Towns is a force at the five spot. His ability to stretch the defense to guard him at the 3-point line has been a breath of fresh air for the Knicks in his first year with the team. They have sorely missed a player of his caliber and haven't really had someone of his stature since Kristaps Porzingis. He is an All-Star alongside Brunson, has battled through a lingering thumb injury that will require surgery in the offseason, and is averaging 24.7 PTS and 13.4 REB per game while playing in all but five of the Knicks' games this year.

• Mikal Bridges has come into his own after a really rough start to the year. It takes time to gel with a new team, and after being the focal point in Brooklyn he needed to adjust to not necessarily being that number one guy on the Knicks. Through it all, he is shooting 49.2% from the field, his best mark since the 2021-2022 season. The guy doesn't miss time either, as he has played in every single game to this point.

• Josh Hart is the king of transition with one of the highest motors I have ever seen. Night-in and night-out, he's rebounding with authority, pushing the ball up the court, and playing staunch defense. Of the 13 triple doubles that he has posted in his career, seven (7!) of them have come during the 2024-2025 season. He is having the best season of his career and is also insanely durable, having missed a whopping one game this year.

• OG Anunoby is the wing piece the Knicks knew they needed when they gave up their young talent in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors in late 2023. This year, when healthy, Anunoby is one of the better defenders on the team averaging 1.4 SPG, while providing an important scoring touch at 16.3 PPG. He is sorely missed right now as he works back from a right foot sprain, especially since the Knicks lack wing depth. However, all signs point toward him returning in the Knicks' first game out of the break against the Bulls on February 20th.

Supporting cast giving their all

Precious Achiuwa, Cam Payne, Deuce McBride, and Landry Shamet have all played their share of meaningful minutes off the bench this year. Thibs has begun to give them a little bit more of a leash minutes-wise to hopefully take some pressure off the starters heading into the last stretch of the year and into the playoffs. This has benefitted guys like Achiuwa and McBride, who are having career seasons so far.

• Achiuwa in the month of February has averaged 34.9 MIN, 12.8 PTS, and 9.3 REB with Anunoby out. He capped off the last game prior to the break with a 26 point, 8 rebound game in an OT win against the Hawks. He's showing confidence on the offensive side of the ball as he is attacking defenders with force and is using his ball handling skills to create space. Aside from that, he has also generated six steals and five blocks during the month.

• McBride is playing 23.5 MIN a night and is averaging 9.1 PTS and 2.7 AST, all the highest marks of his young career. He brings a spark off the bench, especially on the defensive side of the ball where he can step in for a below-average defender like Brunson.

• Payne and Shamet are two nice depth pieces that the Knicks added prior to this season. Payne is a firecracker off the bench and is not afraid to pull up from deep with that wonky follow through. Shamet is a solid defender who can fill in with 8-10 decent minutes per night, which is huge for a team that relies so heavily on Bridges and Anunoby to play big minutes.

Mitchell Robinson's return is on the horizon, and his presence will be a big boost to the Knicks' depth. I'd like to see what he can do in lineups with Karl-Anthony Towns; they may be an unstoppable force together.

There is still work to do to reach the Eastern Conference Finals

If the Knicks want to seriously contend for a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals, they need to prove that they can compete - and win - against the best teams in the league. There are five games left on the schedule against Cleveland and Boston in which they can prove they can get over the hump. Both the Cavs and the Celtics pose matchup nightmares for the Knicks, so it will be very interesting to see how Thibs plays them in games having hopefully learned from previous matchups this year.

A first or second round exit would be a massive failure for this Knicks team. My belief is that their wing depth will most likely cost them a few games in the playoffs, which can make or break a series. There is a lot riding on OG Anunoby and Josh Hart to defend the best players on the court. However, this can all come crashing down if the Knicks are yet again losing guys because they are not healthy due to the overloaded minutes they played during the regular season.

In the modern version of the NBA, health means everything, and protecting players from wear and tear should be paramount. As I mentioned above, Thibs needs to trust his bench guys and find areas for them to flourish on a nightly basis leading up to the playoffs. He needs to keep focusing on that area, because the way he distributes minutes amongst his players is one of the glaring flaws of his coaching style. He can't be pushing KAT, Hart, or Anunoby to play 40+ minutes a night, because that is just unsustainable over the long-term for any player. I especially worry for KAT given his size and the knee injury that has recently popped up.

However, we're seeing Thibs give a guy like Ariel Hukporti a shot to earn minutes; that is not something we would have seen last year. I'd like to see someone like Pacome Dadiet get a few minutes behind Anunoby or Bridges down the stretch, but I don't have insight into how he is practicing and adjusting to the speed of the game, so I'm not sure if that would work this season.

All in all, the Knicks have played great basketball up until this point and Thibs is yet again doing a hell of a job coaching the team. Over the next two months, they need to stay healthy and continue to prove their worth or it could end just like last year. A second round exit to an arguably weaker Eastern Conference team OR hitting the buzzsaw that are the Boston Celtics would be unacceptable.