The Knicks' two-man game of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson is already frightening

The thing is, the Knicks were already a pretty damn good offense.

That’s what made it so surprising when New York brought in Karl-Anthony Towns on the eve of training camp.

In a vacuum, swinging a deal for a 28-year-old, four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection doesn’t require too much justification — even when he’s set to make $220.4 million over the next four seasons. In context, though: Why move heaven, earth, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a few cleverly-maneuvered-on-the-outskirts-of-the-CBA end-of-the-bench players for an offense-first big man when you’ve just finished second and seventh in the NBA in offensive efficiency over the last two seasons?

Because, more often than not, climbing that high looked and felt hard. New York’s offense was the result of a battering-ram barrage of sharp-shouldered drives into a thicket of limbs; of relentless pursuit of extra possessions on the offensive glass after missed first shots; of Jalen Brunson going into the phone booth, putting the cape on … and then never really getting out of the phone booth, but somehow managing to be Superman anyway.

To get where they wanted to go, the Knicks had to find a way to reduce the degree of difficulty — to develop a bread-and-butter that could more easily make defenses toast.

“This is why they did it,” a league scout told SNY’s Ian Begley. “If it works, the [Towns-Brunson pick-and-roll] will be tough for everyone.”

Two months into the experiment, it’s working, it’s tough for everyone — and, most importantly, it’s easier for them.

The Knicks (16-10) enter Thursday’s meeting with the Timberwolves — Towns’ first regular-season contest against the franchise that drafted him in 2015, Randle’s first game against the organization he helped resuscitate before choosing Towns over him, and a sure-to-be-fraught family reunion for all those ’Nova Knicks — tied for second in the NBA in offensive efficiency, according to Cleaning the Glass. New York is pouring in 122.3 points per 100 possessions outside of garbage time, about 3.5 points-per-100 over last season’s mark — a quantum leap in how frequently and effectively head coach Tom Thibodeau’s club maximizes its offensive trips.

“They’ve made a conscious effort to move the ball and to create advantages,” Thibodeau recently told reporters. “I think the more you help somebody else, the more you’re helping yourself. I think the cuts have been decisive; driving the ball off the cut, and then relocating, and just being unselfish, making the extra pass to get a great shot.”

The addition of Towns — one of the best shooting big men of all time, a bona-fide five-alarm threat on the perimeter — alongside Brunson, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges has stretched opposing defenses in ways that Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson (all talented and important offensive players in their own right!) just didn’t.

Last season, 10.1% of New York’s shot attempts came against “tight” coverage — meaning there was a defender within two feet of the shooter. This season, that’s down to 6%. Similarly: Last season, 51.6% of the Knicks’ shots were “open” or “wide-open” looks — meaning no defender within four feet of the shooter. This season, that’s up to 53.9%.

Last season, the Knicks created 63.1 points per game via assist — third-fewest in the NBA. This season: 70.5, just outside the top 10 … despite throwing three fewer passes per game. (They already have 12 30-plus-assist games; that’s more than any Knicks team has had since 1994.)

This is what it looks like when a team accustomed to doing everything the hard way installs an easy button:

The Knicks finished last season 22nd in the share of their shots that came at the rim, and 26th in shooting percentage at the basket. With Brunson and Towns on the floor together, though, New York gets to and finishes at the cup at top-five levels — one big reason why Thibs’ crew has scored 7.4 more points-per-100 than the league’s average offense this season, according to PBP Stats.

That makes it one of the 10 most efficient attacks of the last 25 years — just behind last year’s title-winning Celtics — and, according to Jared Dubin’s adjusted efficiency metric, just outside the top 25 among all units since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. It’s all built on the foundation of Brunson and Towns, who rank 13th and 14th in the NBA in scoring, and on a two-man game that has quickly become one of the league’s most devastating.

How New York’s dynamic duo is devastating opponents

Thibodeau has wasted little time getting his All-Star playmakers acquainted. Towns has set 416 screens for Brunson this season, according to a source with access to Second Spectrum’s player tracking data, second-most of any pairing in the NBA. The fast-tracked partnership has proven fruitful: The Knicks are averaging 1.265 points per possession on plays that feature a Brunson-KAT pick-and-roll, the eighth-best mark among duos that have paired up at least 150 times.

The Knicks are scoring 123.8 points-per-100 with Brunson and Towns sharing the floor, producing a level of half-court scoring efficiency against set defenses that would’ve led the NBA every year for the last 20 years. (That New York finished 16th in the half-court last season, and this year is pushing Boston and Cleveland for the league lead, makes a pretty compelling case for the upside of the KAT move.)

Towns is averaging 24.8 points per game on 53/44/85 shooting splits, torching defenses both with his geography-warping shot-making and with how effectively he’s throwing secondary pitches off of that 3-point fastball. He’s averaging fewer drives per game than last season, but scoring more points per drive and shooting a higher percentage on them, thanks in part to how deftly he’s keeping defenses off balance. After operating primarily as a spot-up option over his final couple of seasons in Minnesota to help space the floor around Rudy Gobert, KAT has resumed rumbling to the rim with relish, mixing in more hard rolls after a screen and shooting a sparkling 68.2% on them.

The threat of those hard dives can introduce an extra half-second of indecision for the defense as Towns ambles up to set the pick; that moment’s hesitation and extra few inches of space are all he needs to rise and fire, shooting 44% from 3-point range when he opts to pop. It all adds up to a scorching .686 true shooting percentage (which factors in 2-point, 3-point and free-throw accuracy) after setting a screen for Towns, who’s fifth in the NBA in scoring efficiency among high-volume rollers.

Coming off two seasons spent primarily dribbling around screens set by Mitchell Robinson (who nearly always rolled hard for a lob) and Isaiah Hartenstein (who could dive or linger around the free throw line as an outlet on the short roll), it took Brunson a bit to find a rhythm with Towns. After the newcomer attempted just nine, 11 and eight shots in his first three games in New York, Brunson told reporters that it was his responsibility to “make sure that we’re all on the same page, and to make sure everyone’s eating … I’ve gotta adjust and I’ve gotta see him.” So far, so good: Since that quote, Towns has averaged nearly 18 field goal attempts per game with a 29.1% usage rate. For the season, Brunson has dimed Towns up 49 times, making them the 11th-most frequent assist combo in the league. (Towns, for his part, has returned the favor 16 times.)

Having Towns to play pitch-and-catch with has helped put Brunson on pace to post career highs in assists per game (7.7, ninth in the NBA), assist percentage (34.4%), games with double-digit helpers (already seven in 26 games this season after nine in 77 outings last season) and points created via assist (19.3 per game, 11th in the NBA). And while Brunson’s per-game scoring is down nearly four points from last season … that’s a feature, not a bug.

After Randle got hurt in late January, Brunson averaged 92.2 touches per game, 9.2 minutes of possession and a 35.5% usage rate for the rest of the 2023-24 regular season — all numbers that ranked first or second in the NBA, and all numbers that either increased or held steady in the playoffs. It was a remarkably successful formula, but it was also an incredibly demanding one, constantly requiring the 6-foot-2 point guard to chisel his way through larger defenders and multiple layers of coverage play after play — and all but ensuring that New York’s offense would fall off a cliff whenever Brunson left the floor.

Enter Towns. With KAT on board as an elite scoring threat and complementary playmaking option, Brunson’s touches, time of possession and usage rate are all down dramatically. And with him able to anchor non-Brunson lineups, New York has outscored opponents by 6.3 points-per-100 with the captain getting a breather — a complete turnaround from last season.

All that space has had trickle-down effects for the rest of the roster, too. (Of note: Every player on the Knicks has a higher shot quality when KAT is on the floor.)

Anunoby is in the midst of a career offensive season, averaging 17 points per game on 48/38/80 shooting, and feasting as a third option spotting up on the weakside of the Brunson-Towns two-man game. He’s been particularly menacing moving without the ball, slicing into open space to throw down 51 dunks in 26 games — seventh-most in the NBA! — and scoring an eye-popping 1.64 points per play off a cut, third-best in the league among players to finish 25 such plays. (On the whole, the Knicks rank 11th in the NBA in points per possession off of cuts to the basket, up from 22nd last season.)

Bridges has been up and down on both ends of the court, resulting in plenty of hemming and hawing over the steep price that New York paid the Nets for his services. But he’s leading the NBA in corner 3s, and after a frigid start, he’s warmed up over his last 10 games, averaging 19 points per game while shooting 62% inside the arc and 38.9% beyond it, looking increasingly comfortable slotting into his new role.

And despite early concerns about whether his inconsistent shooting might grind the gears of the Knicks’ hoped-for new offensive machine, Josh Hart has thrived, too. Opponents have stationed their centers on Hart more often in favor of using a wing to guard KAT on the perimeter, but the hard-charging swingman with the ever-revving motor has made himself a nuisance to those cross-matches by knocking down open shots (40.4% from 3, a career high), ramping up his playmaking (5.5 assists per game, also a career high) and taking advantage of all that spacing with slot cuts and timely duck-ins from the dunker spot:

Between those on-the-spot pop-ins and his end-to-end rampages in transition, Hart is shooting a mind-bending 70.7% on 2-pointers this season — third in the NBA, behind only Daniel Gafford and Obi Toppin. They’re both half-a-foot taller than him. (At least.)

Can this Knicks attack hold up in the playoffs?

While the early returns on the offensive end have been exactly what the Knicks hoped for, questions still remain. Can an attack that’s shifted from ground-and-pound to embracing space hold up against the most physical defenses — ones capable of putting size on Brunson, stationing a wing on Towns, switching ball screens and taking New York out of its preferred rhythm? (Two of the Knicks’ worst offensive games of the season came against teams like that: the Rockets last month, and the Hawks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.)

Perhaps more important: Can that approach hold up without an equally potent defense?

For the full season, New York sits 16th in points allowed per possession … but a large chunk of that is damage still being felt from their season-opening annihilation in Boston. Even with Towns’ struggles protecting the rim (though he’s held opponents to a respectable 57.7% on up-close tries over the past 10 games) and Bridges’ difficulties navigating screens at the point of attack (though he’s coming off a much better effort in New York’s win over Orlando), the Knicks are actually 11th in defensive efficiency since opening night — a mark that could continue to improve with more reps together and the eventual return of paint-protecting center Mitchell Robinson, who’s yet to appear this season after offseason foot surgery.

The Knicks know they’ll need to be elite on both ends of the floor to contend for a championship. The good news: With an awful lot of season still in front of them, they’re already halfway there … and they think they might only be scratching the surface.

“This group is still figuring it out,” Brunson recently told reporters. “We’re progressing every single day. … It’s a fairly new team. We’re going to continue to get better throughout the entire year all the way to April.”