Mikal Bridges looks similar to the player he was in 2023-24 for the Brooklyn Nets behind his 18.7 PPG, and the Knicks are getting big results from Josh Hart and his 16 PPG. But when Towns is the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 15.3 PPG while allowing just 9.3 field goals per night, there are no lines to read between.
It’s clear the Knicks need more scoring across the board. Their leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is scoring at a rate of 5.7 points less than he was a year ago, but he’s at least doing it on 19 shots per game. The No. 1 priority for the Knicks should be getting Towns more involved as the team finds quicker, more efficient ways to score. His 50.0/66.7/93.3 percent shooting line from the field, three-point line and free throw line is unprecedented for a player his size. He deserves more accountability. After that, Brunson needs to start feeling like the MVP candidate he was last season.
In a perfect world, if the Knicks get a combination of 25+ points from Brunson and 20+ from Towns, while getting more from Bridges and Hart, as well as Miles McBride and Cam Payne off the bench, they should be able to at least tie and probably overwhelm the Heat on the scoreboard. But as their history against each other, as well as intra-conference play, shows, it will likely be a grueling affair from start to finish.