Why are Knicks allowing so many open 3s? What’s gone wrong and how they can fix it

Through the first nine games of the 2024-25 NBA season, the New York Knicks are producing one of the league’s most efficient offenses, highlighted by the league’s third-best 3-point percentage. The offense, while not yet perfect, has done more than enough for the team to be better than the 4-5 record it possesses.

The answer as to why the team has struggled, then, is simple: When New York loses, it’s usually because of its defense. Specifically, it’s because the team often loses the 3-point battle.

While the Knicks are one of the highest-percentage 3-point shooting teams in basketball, they rank in the bottom 10 in attempts per game. In four of the team’s five losses this season, the Knicks have taken 30 or fewer 3s, while their opponents have attempted at least 36. The Knicks are shooting a more-than-respectable 38 percent from 3 (60-of-158) in their five losses, but their opponents are a combined 40 percent from 3 (85-of-214). That’s a 75-point difference from the 3-point line.

It’s easy to attribute that 3-point attempt discrepancy to New York’s slow pace — it averages just 96.06 possessions per game, dead last in the NBA — but its 3-point defense has been far from consistent to begin the season. When examining the film, the blame appears to fall more on personnel and mental lapses.

Knicks head man Tom Thibodeau has coached elite defenses in the past and hasn’t forgotten how to coach overnight. However, the Knicks’ communication and on-ball defense have been lacking for significant stretches this season. Additionally, there are too many head-scratching decisions from players who have a track record of being sharp on that end. Because of that, the defense isn’t on a string as often as it was a season ago, when it ranked ninth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions. This season’s team, by contrast, ranks in the bottom 10.

Many expected New York’s defense to take a bit of a dip, at least to start this season. It swapped offense for defense when it lost Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to the Oklahoma City Thunder and replaced him with Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster trade in late September. On top of that, center Mitchell Robinson, one of the league’s best defensive anchors, hasn’t been available to play due to injury.

Those changes alone are shifting how the Knicks go about defending. When examining what’s wrong with New York’s half-court defense as of late, a few things are worth highlighting.

One is that Towns has primarily been deployed in a deeper drop when guarding pick-and-rolls to start the season. That has presented some challenges when the rest of the players on the floor aren’t on point with their defensive principles, as this play early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers shows.

Though Towns gave Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin a cushion to step into a shot, the bigger issue in this clip is Josh Hart going under the screen. Towns is doing what he’s asked to do within Thibodeau’s scheme. Had Hart done the same and gone over the top of the screen, he may have run Mathurin off the line or put himself in position to contest the shot from behind. But Hart doesn’t make Mathurin uncomfortable. Mathurin entered the season having made just 34 percent of his 3s in his career, but he hit five in a row in this game before this shot. You almost always go over screens when guarding a good and/or hot shooter, especially when your center teammate is dropping back.

The Knicks’ point-of-attack defense, whether in isolation or in screening actions, has been inconsistent at times. The best way to help out a big man defensively is to ensure the perimeter players keep the ball and their man in front of them. New York’s don’t do that on this Myles Turner corner 3 that all but sealed Sunday’s loss.

On the surface, Towns looks at fault for Turner hitting a 3, but Towns must help off Indiana’s center because Mikal Bridges offered no resistance as Tyrese Haliburton blew past at the 3-point line. Due to the breakdown on the perimeter, Towns helps, and Turner, in the corner, is able to catch the Haliburton pass before Towns can even get out of the paint.

Communication has been lacking lately for the Knicks defense. While the Atlanta Hawks didn’t shoot as well as Indiana from 3 in Wednesday’s game, this play from that Knicks loss encompasses some of those chemistry issues.

The Knicks did well to get the ball out of Trae Young’s hands to start this sequence, but once they do, guys stop playing. Atlanta center Clint Capela sets a screen on Bridges, who takes the long way to get over. That forced OG Anunoby to step over and impede Young from getting into the paint, which left Hawks forward Jalen Johnson wide open. Hart stepped over to help Towns negate Johnson’s drive, thereby taking away a possible Johnson layup, drawn foul on Towns or lob to Capela. The problem is that Anunoby doesn’t “X” out, meaning he doesn’t sprint to the corner to cover Hart’s man, Zaccharie Risacher. At this point in the game, the Hawks rookie had hit five 3s. This became No. 6.

Some communication issues should be expected given how early it is into the season and how many new pieces are playing with one another for the first time. And to be fair, the Knicks have executed the “X” out well this season. As of late, though, they’ve been a step slow in processing these situations. Anunoby, Hart and Bridges are all used to being able to take risks defensively, and when you have three players used to taking chances, it’s possible for the foundation to be shaky.

On this Turner 3 from Sunday, Towns simply loses his discipline.

Bridges does a good job of containing Haliburton, and everyone else is guarding their man. However, Towns slipped up for a split second too long, taking four steps inside the arc while turning his back to Turner. That gave Haliburton an easy passing option and allowed Turner to step into a rhythm 3.

Ultimately, many of these Knicks defensive issues can be attributed to roster changes. They need to be better at the point of attack, yes, but the chemistry isn’t there, and there are one too many possessions where the basic tenets Thibodeau often harps on aren’t being executed. These players all know how to “X” out properly. Going under on a screen when a shooter is hot is a mistake these players know not to make but are still doing consistently. So is not turning your back on the player you’re guarding, particularly when he has a hot hand.

These are largely fixable problems, and I’d put my money on a Thibodeau-coached team putting these issues behind it with more time to jell. However, until that happens, it doesn’t matter how well the Knicks are shooting or how well the offense is clicking if their defense allows their opponent to shoot just as well from 3 on significantly more open attempts.

To get to where they want to go, New York’s players must execute better defensively.

Required Reading

(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)