4 Dark Horse Knicks That Can Power a Deep Postseason Run

For the third time in the last four years, the New York Knicks are heading back to the NBA postseason and their chances of making a statement have never looked better.

Following their season finale win over the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, the Knicks’ impressive campaign culminated in a 50-32 record that sits second in the Eastern Conference picture and created much buzz around the franchise’s chances for a title.

It’s the first time since their playoff run in 2012-13 that they’ve earned the No. 2 seed and will start a journey that many expect to reach the conference finals for a clash with the dominant favorite in the Boston Celtics.

The Knicks have had to battle significant injuries and demand a lot out of every player in their  rotation in order to reach the point of being one of the best in the tournament. Despite their losses, most notably Julius Randle who will miss the playoffs with his shoulder injury, New York has rallied behind the superstar abilities of Jalen Brunson, who averaged 28.7 points, 6.7 assists on 47.9% shooting from the field in 77 games, and received valiant efforts from a crew of hard nosed players on both ends of the court under Tom Thibodeau.

Now, as the opening round of the postseason begins next weekend, the Knicks are going to have to count on more than just Brunson to match their hype and make a deep push towards the promised land. From 3-point shooting specialists to defensive presences, there are a few dark horse candidates that can determine how far New York’s postseason run goes.

Bojan Bogdanovic

New York Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) shoots over | Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The road to his first postseason in New York hasn’t always been the easiest for Bojan Bogdanovic.

In his first 29 games since joining the Knicks at the trade deadline, the small forward struggled to gel into the team’s system and get his three-point prowess that has defined his skillset going. The absence of Julius Randle and OG Anunoby had Bogdanovic playing out of his own style and trying to be a rim enforcer that led to turnover woes and poor efficiency.

Once Anunoby returned and the 44-year-old was able to get back to his usual groove, the Knicks started to received a nice secondary offensive boost that was missing from their bench unit at times. Bogdanovic ultimately finished the final month of the regular season shooting 49.3% from the fields and 43.3% from beyond the arc to lift the Knicks into one of the hottest three-point teams in the NBA.

When the veteran wing man is feeling it, the Knicks put themselves in great position to compete with the other top offenses featured in this year’s playoffs. In games when Bogdanovic makes at least two 3-pointers, the Knicks hold a 7-3 record and some of their momentous wins came with the forward converting three or more of his downtown shots.

His points in the paint tend to come from the midrange where he can use size to gain an advantage, but the greater impact must come from the arc in order to get the most value out of Bogdanovic’s rotation spot. If the Knicks can get their guards to force the defense into the interior and find those kick out opportunities with their sharpshooters like Bogdanovic, they will give the best teams in the playoffs trouble with a scorching offense that’s hard to slow down once it’s hot.

Josh Hart

New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) shoots the ball during | Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

It’s very hard to avoid the common play on words, but Josh Hart’s name truly emphasizes what he brings to the team in terms of relentless hustle and pure playoff grit.

Whenever he is on the court, opposing teams have to pay their due respect to Hart and how his intensity can create damage in so many ways. He averaged only 9.4 points per game on 43.4% shooting during the regular season—even as a starting fixture after Julius Randle went down—but his presence is felt as he zooms around like the Energizer bunny and rips down dozens of rebounds on a nightly basis.

In 81 games this season, Hart often found himself positioned as the Knicks’ leading rebounder and it was a big factor in him sniffing the record for most triple-doubles in a single season by a New York player. He ranked 21st in the league with an average of 8.3 boards per game which mostly came on the defensive end. Still, he finished with 30 games holding at least 10 rebounds and had six triple-doubles after having none in his first seven seasons.

Without Randle and Mitchell Robinson, who missed most of the regular season with an ankle ailment, many thought rebounding was going to be an issue for the Knicks that would deteriorate their chances to compete. Yet, Hart picked up a ton of the slack, reeling in the second-most rebounds per game for the team and helped them create tons of second chance shots that helped make up for the offensive deficiency from injuries.

The Knicks finished the season ranked high atop the field in major rebounding and defensive metrics as a result of Hart’s glass dominance. Per Pro Basketball Reference, New York enters the playoffs with the No. 1 offensive rebounding average, the fifth total rebounding average, top-2 opponent rebounding percentages and top-10 rating on both sides of the ball.

As they enter the playoffs, pieces like Hart will need to maintain that consistent presence on the glass and make it difficult for opponents to stick around with their very streaky offense. The Knicks have a penchant for tiring teams out in the fight for loose balls and with it they can have a secret weapon towards advancing deep against any matchup.

Miles McBride

New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) drives to the basket | Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

His nickname may be Deuce, but there is no shortage to the impact that Miles McBride has had on the Knicks rotation in their run to the postseason.

Similar to Hart, McBride was another Knicks player who increased in his role following the onset of injuries to key starters in the midway point of the season. However, it might have been the best thing for him, as the 23-year-old, former second-round draft pick saw immense growth in all the intangibles that a team needs from its point guards.

On the offensive end, McBride elevated himself to a good second-unit producer that could give Jalen Brunson extra rest time without sacrificing their nightly output. After two seasons of averaging less than four points per contest, his numbers jumped to 8.3 points, 1.5 boards and 1.7 assists per affair and pushed as high as 45.2% from the field and 41.0% from beyond the three-point line.

In addition to scoring, McBride is one of the best facilitators on the Knicks roster and could open up the transition game with or without the ball in his hands. He has the speed and shiftiness to put pressure on the defense to get back to the basket to contest a layup or to get ahead of a wide open teammate on the outside. He can reverse the role and become the open man himself, quickly getting off the dagger looks that put opponents to rest.

Meanwhile, his defense has sharply improved as well. In various stretches of the year, the Knicks called on McBride to guard some of the best players at his position and that “in your face” defensive confidence stifled some of the strongest shooters in the game in big wins for New York. McBride has jumped his defending rebounding percentage to 5.9%, steals to 1.2% and carries a defensive plus/minus ratio of 0.4 after having a negative number last season.

There is really not one thing about Miles McBride that stands out in his record season, but simply put, if he can bring all these things into the postseason it will take some of the weight of Jalen Brunson’s shoulders. Last year, he was considered an undeveloped player that wasn’t earning any minutes to show himself, but now he’s an ideal player for Tom Thibodeau’s tough, defensive system that can add that shooting flare that demands extra attention in very important games.

Mitchell Robinson 

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) and Chicago Bulls | David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

When Mitchell Robinson first went down with his ankle injury back in December, the Knicks were feeling the drop in their defensive prowess. Luckily, a few players like Isaiah Hartenstein and OG Anunoby came around to pick up the slack in his absence and the Knicks maintained one of the best defensive ratings in the NBA all season.

Now, Robinson has made his way back to the fold and will add the same defensive reinforcements on the second unit. In recent campaigns, the seven-foot center has been atop the league in blocking metrics because he can use his size and length to get up in the shooter’s face and disturb his shot from any distance, something the Knicks miss when the starters exit the game.

In Robinson’s six NBA seasons, he has averaged 1.9 blocked shots per game and has rallied that number as high as 2.4 in his rookie debut with the Knicks. That average is at a career-low of 1.1 due to the ankle injury he sustained early on, but he still boasts four regular seasons with over 100 blocks which he’s turned into rebounding efforts of at least 423 boards in the same span.

Robinson’s presence will also be needed to take some minutes off of Hartenstein’s shoulders, as the fellow center has dealt with his own lingering Achilles tendinopathy that will need to be maintained to avoid missing time. The duo offer a nice one-two punch on both sides of the glass and can back one another up if foul troubles come into play in a contested series.

In the last postseason appearances for New York, Robinson was fantastic and helped push the Knicks into the second round in 2022 after their first trip together in 2020 was ended quickly by the Atlanta Hawks. He scored 7.4 points per game as a alley oop and outback dunk menace and completely outmatched the Cavaliers duo of centers in Jared Allen and Evan Mobley in round one with 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.

Most importantly, Robinson will enter the playoffs for the third time with nearly fresh legs because he couldn’t get burned out by the “grind it out” style of basketball that Tom Thibodeau puts his players through. That will be a big factor if the Knicks first round series gets extended into 5-7 games territory, when legs could get tired and the Knicks could have Robinson winning the interior battles and keeping the ball into their hands to extend big possessions.

Playoff Mitch has already stated that he is getting into his zone and wants no distractions from anybody as round one looms. If he can become one for any team the Knicks face, they have a chance to make it far by falling back on one of their defensive backbones.

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This article was originally published on empirewritesback.com as 4 Dark Horse Knicks That Can Power a Deep Postseason Run.