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Knicks Share Secret to Top Offense

The New York Knicks have one of the best offenses in the NBA.

Jeremy Brener

Jan 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Jan 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The New York Knicks have one of the best offenses top to bottom in the NBA, and there are many factors as to why that is the case.

However, head coach Tom Thibodeau believes there is one factor that the Knicks look for when trying to piece together things on the offensive end of the floor.

“Well, you want to be well-balanced. I think that it’s easy [for] people to look at the volume of threes and then you’re going to go through stretches where you don’t. But it all really starts with getting as many layups as you can," Thibodeau said h/t Posting and Toasting.

It's simple enough. Layups are the easiest shot to make on the court, so getting as many of those leads to an efficient offense, but getting to that spot isn't always easy.

Teams with good offenses can't only be one-dimensional. They have to incorporate several different ways to beat you, and that's exactly how the Knicks offense is designed.

“You want to attack the rim, you want to cut. You’d like to have balance to it. We want to get to the line more. We want to get more layups, we want to get good open threes," Thibodeau said. “But we need easy baskets. And everyone is responsible for creating them."

“It’s a compilation of not only [getting the ball in the] deep paint, creating the space, attacking the space and then making the right read and then after making the right read, relocating. That requires constant movement and that’s where we have to pick it up," he continued.

The more the Knicks are able to come up with a variety of "easy" ways to score, the more likely they are to win basketball games in the second half of the regular season.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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