New York Knicks: What we learned from game one – playoffs are possible

The New York Knicks have the best record in the NBA! The Knicks won their first game of the season by a very respectable margin after putting up 49 points in the second quarter. So, what can we take away from game one?

The New York Knicks are off to a great start after beating the Atlanta Hawks 126-107 in their first game of the season. And they put up how many points in the second quarter? 49!

The Knicks were unstoppable last night as they totaled the Hawks first half total in the second quarter alone.

But what does this mean, and what did we learn from the first game of this new year?

“the Knicks showed that they can be a serious threat for a playoff spot in the East.”

Well, the big thing we learned is that the Knicks can somewhat manage without superstar Kristaps Porzingis.

Now to be fair ,it was against the Hawks who won a mere 24 games in 2017-18, but still.

The Knicks saw a great performance from Tim Hardaway Jr. who put up 31 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and zero turnovers.

Hardaway was by far the most impressive Knick from game one but there were also some great performances from Enes Kanter, Allonzo Trier, Trey Burke, Mario Hezonja and Noah Vonleh.

Nonetheless, the Knicks were very impressive in their first game of the new year.

A big part of the Knicks game was the three ball as they made 12 of their 33 three pointers. Hezonja and Hardaway made three a piece while five Knicks made up for the other six.

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Just for reference, that is more threes and a better percentage than that of the Warriors in their first game of the year.

The Warriors, who have been known to heavily rely on the three-point ball, made seven of their 26 threes in their first game of the year on Tuesday night.

This being said, the Knicks were on fire from beyond the arch on Wednesday night and it is a big reason as to why they won by such a margin.

However, one area the Knicks need to improve upon is the rebound margin.

The Knicks won the rebound margin by only one rebound on Wednesday night as they went for 46 rebounds as a team compared to the Hawks 45.

If the Knicks want to have any kind of success this season, they will need to win on the boards. Winning the rebound margin by only one rebound will not get it done, in order to win you need to get rebounds.

The Knicks did, however, have 10 offensive rebounds to create second chance buckets, but still. Sure the Knicks won by 19 points, but if they want to consistently win without Porzingis, they will need to grab more boards.

One player who was sort of a big let down in-game one was Frank Ntilikina.

Ntilikina is expected to have a great 2018-19 season as he put on 10-15 pounds in the offseason and became a much more physical player.

In the first game, Ntilikina started alongside Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. as a guard, yet he only put up five points, five rebounds, and one assist in 34 minutes.

On the other hand, Kevin Knox, who the Knicks took with their lottery pick, put up 10 points with two steals in 24 minutes.

Something the Knicks may consider would be sliding Kevin Knox into the starting lineup and moving Frank Ntilikina to a bench slot.

This may work because Knox has arguably more potential than that of Frank Ntilikina.

Five points, five rebounds and one assist is not quite the numbers you are hoping for when you start a guy and give him 34 minutes of the 48 available.

However, Ntilikina had a great defensive showing, which is what he does best.

Ntilikina had three steals and a huge deflection which led to a Tim Hardaway Jr. bucket on the other end.

The reason David Fizdale decided to go with Ntilikina rather than Knox was because of what he’d be getting defensively.

This being said, Fizdale’s gamble paid off as Ntilikina showed out on the defensive end. Ntilikina had a great defensive showing, but you might get a better offensive turnout if you side with Kevin Knox over the second year guard.

But still, if the Knicks want to be successful they need to experiment with a couple different starting lineups.

This will allow the Knicks to see how different players play together, and it will ultimately make them a better team.

Another thing we learned is that Allonzo Trier, who the Knicks signed as an un-drafted free agent, is legit.

Trier went for 15 points and four rebounds as he helped the Knicks get their game one win.

Trier is a legit player who the Knicks seriously lucked out on when they signed him out of Arizona.

We will likely see the Knicks cut someone in the coming weeks to make room for Trier on the 15-man roster, if Trier can keep up his production.

All-in-all, the Knicks showed that they can be a serious threat for a playoff spot in the East. Yes, it was only their first game of the season, and yes they did play the Hawks. But still, putting up 49 points is not something that happens everyday, and the Knicks looked truly impressive.

This being said you can expect to see the Knicks mess around with a couple different starting lineups, which will make them a better team in the long run.

Give it a couple of weeks and we will see if the Knicks team that showed up in game one, is the team that is here for the long run.