If you happen to informed a basketball fan even three years in the past {that a} Tom Thibodeau-led group would lead the NBA in most offensive metrics and effortlessly rating 130-plus factors each different night time, they’d have laughed at you.
Thibodeau had gained such a status as a defensive-minded coach that many felt he was virtually incapable of teaching offense. Between the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons, his Bulls groups completed within the backside half on offense, and that sample adopted in his two-and-a-half-year stint as Timberwolves head coach.
In his first two seasons in New York, the pattern continued because the group completed twenty second (2020-21) and twenty third (2021-22) on offense however held its personal on the defensive finish.
All that modified when Jalen Brunson signed with the Knicks within the 2022 offseason. Since then, the Knicks have completed fourth (2022-23) and seventh (2023-24) on offense and have taken an enormous stride this yr with the second-best offensive rating of 120.2.
The Knicks’ explosive offense was on show once more Monday after they smoked the Raptors, 139-125, to enhance to 19-10.
The Knicks managed 139 factors even with Jalen Brunson (12 factors) having an off night time — an inconceivable state of affairs even a yr in the past. The Knicks equally drubbed the Pelicans on Saturday when Karl-Anthony Cities (11 factors) had an off night time.
