Steve Popper: Knicks sporting a defense capable of winning a championship

TORONTO

Before the game began Tuesday night, Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic was listing all of the dangerous components of the Knicks and finally he just summed it up by saying, “That is a team that is built to win a championship and to compete for a championship.”

He might think that more than most since the Knicks entered the night with 11 consecutive wins over the Raptors, needing to go all the way back to Jan. 22, 2023 to find a Toronto win. But for another night, you had to wonder if maybe he was right. By the end of the night the streak was 12 games as the Knicks pulled away for a 111-95 win at Scotiabank Arena.

He’s not the only one to claim it. Knicks coach Mike Brown just said it last week, and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan announced it in January. Still, there is reason to doubt it, too. The Knicks are in third place in the Eastern Conference, having been manhandled by the Detroit Pistons three times already this season and now they have the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder coming into Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for another test.

But there are reasons to believe, too.

The Knicks showed it Sunday when they turned it on against the hottest team in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, and ran them out of the Garden. And then there are nights like Tuesday when they don’t dominate, but seem to come up with exactly what they need when they need it to escape with a victory.

The Knicks improved to 15-9 on the season (16-9 if you count the NBA Cup Final win over San Antonio that disappears from the standings after the celebration) against the top six teams in each conference. Faced with a lead disappearing, the advantage down to 95-93 with less than five minutes left, Scottie Barnes misfired on a corner three and Mikal Bridges beat the defense down the floor to finish a fast break dunk. That triggered a 9-0 run with the defense suffocating the Raptors and the game was out of reach.

While Rajakovic had listed through all of the Knicks offensive weapons, when it counted once again it was the defense that took over the game. The Knicks have boasted the NBA’s best defense since Jan. 21, after a sluggish start to the season on that end and entered Tuesday with the NBA’s third-ranked offense and ninth-ranked defense, giving them the fourth-best net rating in the NBA.

“I mean, when our team is rolling and playing at a level I know we can play at we’re pretty damn good,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “… We’ve been No. 1 [defensively]. That’s what we need. We need to be that if we expect to have a chance to have a deep playoff round. Obviously, every round is a challenge in itself and you don’t want to count your ducks too far ahead and count your eggs, but for us to be the best version of ourselves it’s going to have to happen on that end of the basketball.”

Towns doesn’t have a reputation as a defender, but he has seen it before, when he was part of the No. 1 ranked defense in Minnesota, and his improved play has contributed to the change now.

“It’s been huge,” Brown said. “…Everybody looks at KAT and is ‘Ah, he can’t do it.’ Well, he can do it and he’s shown he can do it. We need him to continue to do it, whether it’s the pick and roll, getting back in transition, coming over to help from the weak side or guarding his guy in a one-on-one situation. He’s been fantastic. he’s also been really good at communicating on the floor. I can hear him talking very loud and early and continuous with the coverages, because usually your big can see everything because he’s on the back side. Give KAT a lot of credit for stepping up his game on that end of the floor as well as the rest of the team.”

There was nothing off the charts Tuesday, no 40-point performances and no one player taking the game over. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 26 points while Towns added 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. OG Anunoby needed just six shots to finish with 15 points and help seemed to come from everywhere. Josh Hart was named the defensive player of the game.

What the Knicks showed on this night was that, like last season, they might be heading toward a peak at the end of the regular season and when the playoffs begin.

“Yeah, regular season means a lot,” Mikal Bridges said. “You build habits. That’s the biggest thing. You build habits an more time to learn to play off of each other. And to not let people think, let it be second nature when we’re out there. So that’s why we’ve got 82 games. Not going to get it Game one. You might not get it Game 40. Just continue to keep growing and bring that into the playoffs.”

The Knicks are now 62 games in and have the same record as they did last season at this point, 40-22. They seem bound for another 50-plus win season. And they are as healthy as any team headed toward the postseason.

So maybe we should believe Rajakovic when he says, “That is a team that is built to win a championship and to compete for a championship.”