Knicks Entering All-Star Break with Statistical Momentum

The New York Knicks' two-for-12 start to 2026 feels a long time ago, as they've looked all the part of the contenders they were once touted as in bouncing back to one of the NBA's best teams over the last month.

They're entering the All-Star break with a record of 35-20, good for the league's fifth-best mark. But that does little to illustrate the heater they've tapped into since late-January, as they've now won 10 of their last 12 off of the back of some drastic approaches to the way they approach both sides of the ball.

Their net rating over the last 10 games currently sits at 15.5, the best such rating in the game thanks to their top-six offense of 118.6 points scored per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of 103.2, the NBA's top figure by over a full possession. By all general accounts, the Knicks have been one of basketball's most complete squads to start the second half of the ongoing schedule, and some of their most noteworthy alterations have no reason to suddenly stop driving winning when the regular season resumes.

New Faces to Consolidate the Defense

The Knicks were one of the worst stopping units just a few weeks ago, the biggest reason why they couldn't even beat tanking operations they were matched up against. But given the impressive personnel manning New York's roster, such flimsy deterrence wouldn't last should simple tweaks put everyone in better positions to succeed.

Guys like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges weren't going to be scored on with as much consistency if everyone else bought into head coach Mike Brown's scheme, which needed improved attention to detail out of the perimeter defenders. That's where his stars started pulling their weight; Jalen Brunson's commitment to team defense improved from what once looked like a consistently-lackadaisical approach, and the same could be said of Towns out of the frontcourt.

New York Knicks Center Karl-Anthony Towns and Guard Jalen Brunson — Feb 1, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) high fives guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

They don't need to be all-world defenders, but doing just enough to keep the role players from having to fly into rotation and cover up for the blind spots has gone a long way.

An active trade deadline has only added more of those supplementary helpers, too; they dealt away Guerschon Yabusele, another defensive non-factor who'd all but lost his spot in Brown's lineup, for assets that eventually became Jose Alvarado, one of the league's token defensive pests. The former New Orleans Pelicans deterrent, plus Jeremy Sochan, the San Antonio Spurs prospect whom the Knicks signed just before the long weekend, add even more defensive-minded options for Brown to deploy as New York attempts to look the part of a frustrating matchup.

Sochan's offense is enough of a work in progress to hold him back from immediate minutes, but most everyone else playing alongside Brunson and Towns is offensively-helpful enough to keep the offense at its currently-productive level. Their healthy mixture of shooters, passers and big-bodies play-finishers all over the court help promote the Knicks' intriguing case for one of the best all-around lineups in basketball, and judging by their sharpened focus, the winning should continue after the stars return from the All-Star Game.

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