With the regular season only two weeks away, the New York Knicks will get themselves ramped up in time for the regular season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 22.
Knicks starters to get more action in third preseason game
According to head coach Mike Brown, the starters will see an increase in minutes in the third game of the preseason, which is this Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Brown indicated that he wants to get the starters some action in the second half after avoiding doing so in the first two preseason games.
Jalen Brunson talked about gearing up for the regular season and what the mindset is with three preseason games remaining.
“Getting closer to the season, getting closer to the real thing, we’re still preparing as well as we need to be,” Brunson said, via Andrew Crane of the New York Post. “So we’ll just continue with that preparation and that focus, and yeah, obviously minutes aren’t what they would be in a regular-season game, but everything matters what we do.”
The Knicks will ramp up for the regular season opener in two weeks
In the two games in Abu Dhabi, Brown didn’t play anybody for more than 18 minutes in either game, and primarily focused on getting all 19 players who made the trip into some game action. The starters saw plenty of time together, and the bench unit got some productive work in as well.
Increasing the workload before the regular season not only gets the players in shape for the season, but it will also help them adjust to the new playstyle they are learning from Brown. Signs of quick adjustments showed in Abu Dhabi, with the ball moving around the court and the pace being at a significantly faster rate than in previous years under Tom Thibodeau.
New York will have three games over the next two weeks before it begins the real thing. Luckily for them, they won’t have to do any traveling in that time frame, as all three remaining preseason games are at home, along with their first two regular season games.
After they play the Timberwolves, they will finish the preseason with matchups against the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards before Opening Night.