This is the potential for the starting lineup when it is firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got guys that can score, so it\u2019s not surprising,\u201d head coach Mike Brown said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know all five guys had at least 18, but all those guys can pass, dribble and shoot, and they\u2019re all unselfish. And so that\u2019s the thing that makes it exciting for our team. When we have those guys all together, they\u2019re a lethal starting five, and they\u2019re a lethal group when they\u2019re together. Great things from Josh as well as the rest of the group tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also something that was largely missing without Hart. He is the string that connects the Knicks.<\/p>\n
Anunoby and Bridges are talented shooters and scorers, not initiators. Their primary role in Brown\u2019s system is to stay in the corner for catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. That requires a ball handler to break down the defense, force it to collapse and create open looks.<\/p>\n
Playing without Hart for eight games, the Knicks reverted back to heavy Brunson usage and isolation with little ball movement. Anunoby and Bridges, in particular, struggled as the Knicks went 3-5 in Hart\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
Anunoby\u2019s scoring contribution was well over his 15.6-point average while Hart was out of the lineup. Bridges\u2019 scoring average sat at 12.4 ppg in that time. It\u2019s not a coincidence each scored more in Portland with Hart back.<\/p>\n
The Knicks invested heavily in those two, along with Towns, to be a strong supporting cast for Brunson. Brown\u2019s system is designed to take pressure off the point guard. The Knicks vision for NBA title contention is to have the ability to hurt opponents in a plethora of ways. With their connector back, that depth was back on display.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/brings-ball-court-portland-trail-118737267.jpg\")
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) brings the ball up court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Portland, Ore. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving him back was good,\u201d Brown said. \u201cEven having him back helps with our pace because he gets out and runs, he throws it ahead, and he pushes the ball at an extremely fast pace, and so we get easy baskets when we\u2019re able to play like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That increased production from teammates allowed Brunson to be a bit more selective with shots and have the ball in his hands less. He shot 52.6 percent from the field Sunday, more efficient than all but one contest in that eight-game stretch.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Beyond Brunson, more balanced scoring meant Brown was able to keep Towns on the bench down the stretch of the game and have better defenders on the floor with Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson. There was less reliance on Towns to score with Hart getting Anunoby and Bridges involved. The pair combined for 17 points when Towns was on the bench for the final 9:24 of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just really happy to have him back,\u201d Brunson said of Hart. \u201cHe\u2019s worked his butt off, obviously, trying to get back. He\u2019s a big part of what we do, regardless of what people say and all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boxscore was a sight to behold. The Knicks scoring was incredibly balanced in their 123-114 win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,327,3357,6,191,687,471,3967,66,1617],"class_list":{"0":"post-533083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-portland-trail-blazers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-blazers","10":"tag-josh-hart","11":"tag-mike-brown","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-portland","15":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","16":"tag-portlandtrailblazers","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-trail-blazers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115885623601938643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}