The New York Knicks are learning to play a different brand of basketball this season. It’s not the isolation-heavy style fans have grown used to — it’s something far more fluid, demanding, and collective. Mike Brown’s arrival has changed the tone entirely, and while it hasn’t all clicked just yet, there are moments where you can see the foundation starting to settle in.
Instead of leaning on star players to create every shot, Brown’s approach is built on movement, passing, and trust. He wants his players constantly cutting, screening, and finding open looks born from rhythm, not chaos. It’s a system that rewards chemistry, and the Knicks are learning in real time what that means.
Building synergy takes time — but progress is showing
Eight games into the young season, New York’s offense is beginning to look less like a collection of individual scorers and more like a unified unit. It’s still raw, but the energy feels different. You can see players feeding off one another, making extra passes, and communicating defensively in ways that weren’t as consistent last year.
Jalen Brunson continues to be the heartbeat of the team, averaging 28.3 points per game while carrying the offensive load. Karl-Anthony Towns has chipped in 19.8 points per night, giving the Knicks another high-level scoring threat. But the biggest signs of growth might be coming from the wings — OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges — who are starting to form the kind of on-court connection that wins playoff games.
After practice on Saturday, Bridges spoke to the New York Post about how that partnership is starting to gel. “I think we have a synergy,” he said. “It’s just trying to play the right way and doing what we do defensively and trying to make the right play and be aggressive. When it comes down to me and OG, we started to get that synergy. It’s starting to happen.”
Bridges went on to highlight how defense, not offense, is driving their chemistry. “Especially in this defense where we’re shifting and stuff like that. With OG, we’re starting to randomly figure each other out. It sometimes just takes time. No matter how close we are off the court, it takes time defensively. You just need reps. I think it’s starting to come to fruition for me and him.”
Brown’s system rewards patience and understanding
For head coach Mike Brown, this stage of the season is about more than results. It’s about installation — getting his players to internalize a new philosophy of how to play basketball together. “You usually don’t have practice time like this so you try to take advantage of it as best as possible,” Brown told the New York Post on Saturday.
“There’s a lot that we still need to clean up and get better at, and we’re trying to introduce things slowly,” Brown continued. “A lot of it I didn’t do during the preseason. We just played out of our foundation so that they could start understanding how to play the game of basketball on both sides of the floor and not rely on any tricks or anything like that.”
The focus on fundamentals — on understanding spacing, timing, and how to react within the flow of the game — is beginning to pay off. The Knicks’ defensive communication has tightened up. The ball isn’t sticking as much on offense. Even the bench units are starting to find cohesion, which Brown views as essential for long-term success.
A promising start to something bigger
It’s still early, but the Knicks are beginning to look like a team learning how to win the right way. The talent was never the question; it was how that talent would mesh under a system built on movement and mutual understanding.
With Brunson setting the tone, Towns finding rhythm, and Anunoby and Bridges forming a defensive duo that grows stronger each game, the signs are encouraging. Brown’s blueprint demands time, but the pieces are starting to click — and if this is what progress looks like in November, the Knicks might be one of the toughest outs in the East by spring.