By how the NBA defines pace, which is a bit of a flawed stat, the Knicks aren’t playing that much faster. They’re still bottom-five in that category. Their secondary assists and passes per game aren’t much improved, if at all.

The Magic leaned on an 11-man rotation in hopes of running the Knicks into the ground, a tactic that has worked against New York in the past. In theory, it should have worked again — especially with the Knicks missing two perimeter pieces in Miles McBride (ankle) and Landry Shamet (shoulder). Instead, the Knicks flipped the script.

Karl-Anthony Towns was recently asked about how the Knicks are approaching the Cup final, to which he says the team is using it as fuel to win the ultimate crown in June 2026.

The New York Knicks have been linked to a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade longer than any other team and they could get him with this trade idea.