The New York Knicks have clearly established themselves as one of the NBA’s upper-echelon teams. As demonstrated by their 16-4 record against sub-.500 teams, the Knicks have created separation between themselves and the league’s lesser tier.
To achieve their ultimate goal of winning a championship, the next step for New York is proving they can hang with the NBA’s elites. The Knicks are doing a decent job of this; their 8-6 record against .500+ teams is the sixth-best in the NBA. However, it lags behind New York’s main rivals in the NBA title conversation.
The Knicks have the worst record against .500+ teams among the current top-five favorites to win the 2025 NBA title (odds per Caesars Sportsbook):
- Boston Celtics (+235): 10-5 (.667; 3rd)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (+300): 16-5 (.762; 1st)
- New York Knicks (+900): 8-6 (.571; 6th)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (+1000): 12-4 (.750; 2nd)
- Dallas Mavericks (+1700): 11-8 (.579; 5th)
Not only that, but the Knicks have only played 14 games against .500+ teams, which is the second-fewest in the NBA.
The biggest challenge ahead for New York is making a statement against their fellow elite teams. That will start in the next seven days, as two matchups await with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s fitting, as the Thunder themselves are the best team in the NBA against .500+ teams.
This is the Knicks’ chance to address their primary criticism and send a clear message to the NBA. How can they pull it off?
Here are a few keys to defeating Oklahoma City in each of the two upcoming matchups.
1. Attack the offensive glass
Boasting the best net rating in the NBA (+12.2), Oklahoma City is extremely light on weaknesses. For that reason, it is imperative to hone in on the few areas where they have been vulnerable.
Defensive rebounding is one of the Thunder’s rare problem areas. They rank 27th in the NBA with a 73.1 defensive rebounding percentage.
In previous years, the Knicks would have been perfectly equipped to exploit this, as they led the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage last season and were second in 2022-23. This year, though, the Knicks have dropped to 16th (24.4%).
To defeat Oklahoma City, New York must find a way to tap back into the second-chance dominance that powered them over the last two years. It will certainly be tough, as their second-leading offensive rebounder from those teams will be playing across from them (Isaiah Hartenstein) while their leader (Mitchell Robinson) remains sidelined.
Pulling it off will require a shift in mindset and strategy. Tom Thibodeau must encourage his players to emphasize attacking the offensive glass in these two contests, specifically Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart – two great rebounders who are stronger on the defensive side of the glass.
A focused effort from Towns and Hart should be enough to earn the Knicks plenty of offensive boards and extra possessions. OKC has one strong rebounder in Hartenstein (12.2 per game), but outside of him, the Thunder’s next-leading defensive rebounder is two-guard Jalen Williams, who ranks 62nd in the NBA with 5.8 per game. With two dominant rebounding forces on New York’s side and just one on OKC’s side, the Knicks can handily control the offensive glass if they play with the right mindset.
The risk of this strategy is that the Knicks could leave themselves vulnerable to the transition game against a young, fast Thunder team. Oklahoma City ranks fourth in the NBA with 26.5 transition points per game, per NBA.com.
That is a risk New York will have to take. Against a team as deep and well-rounded as OKC, you cannot take away everything. You need to pick and choose what you are willing to live with. If the transition game is the cost of punishing the Thunder on the offensive glass, so be it. The Thunder allow the lowest effective field goal percentage in the NBA (50.1%), so it is imperative to maximize shot attempts against them. If the Knicks sit back and go one-and-done all night against the league’s best defense, it will be ugly.
This is why New York brought in OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges – to cover up defensive holes. The Knicks need their two defensive stoppers to bring their A-game in transition defense so Towns and Hart can focus on crashing the offensive glass.
2. Stay out of foul trouble
The Thunder rely heavily on their shooting from the floor. They average the third-most field goal attempts per game (92.3) and the third-fewest free throw attempts (19.3).
New York has to keep it this way, as the Thunder will punish teams for putting them at the line. They have the second-best free throw percentage in the NBA (81.3%). Meanwhile, their shooting from the floor is average. They rank 15th in effective field goal percentage (54.0%), mainly because they are 20th in three-point shooting (34.5%).
If the Knicks keep OKC off the line and make them rack up field goal attempts, New York has a chance to keep the Thunder relatively quiet on the scoreboard. But if New York puts OKC on the line, it will be difficult to keep up with them.
3. Make your free throws
Not only is OKC excellent at the stripe, but they have lucked into some great fortune on the opposite side of the court. The Thunder’s opponents shoot 74.3% from the free throw line, second-lowest in the NBA. Their +6.6% margin in free throw percentage is by far the NBA’s highest.
Luckily, the Knicks are equipped to neutralize this luck-based strength of the Thunder’s. New York has the fourth-best free throw percentage in the league (80.3%).
Making your free throws is always important, but it’s especially vital against the Thunder, as no team in the NBA has benefited more from their disparity in free throw shooting.
4. Don’t resort to isolation ball
Oklahoma City has the top defense in the NBA, and it is no surprise with the arsenal of stoppers they have accumulated.
It is very difficult to find an exploitable one-on-one matchup against the Thunder defense. As a result, they have allowed just 0.76 points per possession in isolation, which ranks second-best in the NBA.
This spells bad news for the Knicks, specifically Jalen Brunson, who ranks sixth in the NBA in isolation possessions (122) and isolation points (134).
Brunson and the Knicks must keep the ball moving and avoid falling into stagnancy against Oklahoma City’s defense. If you try to play one-on-one, the Thunder defense will come out on top.
5. Attack the corners
Building off the previous point of prioritizing ball movement, the Knicks should focus on collapsing the Thunder defense and kicking the ball out for corner threes. It’s a weapon New York loves to use, and it’s one of Oklahoma City’s few defensive weaknesses.
28.1% of the Knicks’ three-point attempts came from the corners, fourth-highest in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Thunder have allowed their opponents to shoot 28% of their threes from the corners, second-highest in the NBA.
Oklahoma City has allowed 37.1% shooting from the corners, which is pretty good, as it ranks seventh-lowest (the league average is 38.5%). However, it is still vastly behind their defense against all other threes, which may be their greatest strength as a team. On non-corner threes, OKC allows teams to shoot an NBA-low 31.8%.
Brunson will have plenty of drive-and-kick opportunities to Bridges and Anunoby. Jalen needs to consistently take those passes over contested mid-range jumpers, while Bridges and Anunoby must cash in. To score on the Thunder defense, you need to capitalize on the corner threes they give you. Otherwise, their suffocating perimeter defense will force you into a brick-fest on above-the-break threes.
