From the moment the Knicks hired Tom Thibodeau as their new head coach in July, their defense seemed to be up to date.
But there was no guarantee that a tangible change – and subsequent victories – would come quickly.
The Knicks left New York on Dec. 27 with their first win of the season, a stunning loss to the Bucks. They returned on Tuesday as winners of four of their last five that entered Wednesday night’s showdown against Jazz at the Garden, with many strong efforts fueling their rise but the head of defense between them.
“I think the union is a big part. I think the will to share the ball, to play a lot with each other, “Thibodeau said after the Hawks’ last 113-108 victory.”[But] it starts with our defense and rebound. We still have to lower the turnovers, but I think that’s the general way to play between them. I think it’s an important part of winning. They come in and work every day. ”
Last year, under the command of David Fizdale and then interim coach Mike Miller, the Knicks earned the NBA No. 23 defensive rating (112.4). For seven games this season under Thibodeau, they earned the ninth best defensive rating in the NBA (106.1).
During their last five games, they kept their opponents well below the scoring average, albeit in a small sample size. They kept the Bucks, who averaged 127 points otherwise, at 110. They kept the Cavaliers (107.5) at 86, the Raptors (107.2) at 100, the Pacers (117) at 102 and the Hawks. (120) to 108.
“The most important thing is that if you defend and bounce and take care of the ball, you will be in a position to win,” Thibodeau said.
Of course, it wasn’t just the defense that led the Knicks to win three of four on their road trip. There have been key performances from both the newcomers and the remnants as the Knicks got off to their best start through seven games since the 2012-13 season:
“Quivers”: The back-and-forth combination of Imanuel Quickley and Austin Rivers is still very new, but it’s been impressive enough to earn a nickname through social media. Both were on the ground Monday against the Hawks (Rivers for the final 17:06 and Quickley for 15:09 of the final 15:51) to help turn a 15-point deficit into a five-point victory.
Rivers played a strong defense against Trae Young and exhausted a 3-point lead after a strong pass from Quickley, who scored 16 points.
“We play a little offensively, defensively, it’s also very good,” Quickley said. “So it makes it very easy at both ends of the floor to play with him.”
King Juli: Julius Randle had another monster game Monday, racking up 28 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists. His struggles last season were well documented, but he has been greatly improved earlier this year, although he devoted many minutes.
“I think the guys believe in the coach and they believe in their message and they play each other, they play hard, they play together,” Randle said.
Resilience: The Knicks have spent a lot of time with the lead in their four wins, but came out of a 15-point deficit in the third quarter Monday to finish the road trip with a lot of note.
“It starts with Thibs and then it all goes down,” RJ Barrett said. “Everyone who comes into the game plays hard, plays with an advantage.”
Hiccup of shots: The anomaly during the five-game stretch? The Knicks shot 3-on-36 from deep against the Raptors. In the other four games, they combined to shoot 49 percent. That includes just one game of Alec Burks, who was expected to be one of his best shooters.