The New York Knicks had high hopes for the 2016-17 season after revamping their roster. According to D-Rose and Melo that hasn’t changed.
The New York Knicks (15-13) snapped their three-game losing streak Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers. A big part of their improved play was the return of Derrick Rose (back spasms). New York’s starting point guard had missed the last two games and four of the last six.
Rose’s return meant a lot of things, but mostly that the big three would be sharing the court together again. It couldn’t have gone better.
Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 80 of the Knicks 118 points in their Tuesday win.
https://youtu.be/Fj5y0WWVgWo
Rose told Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News that the big three playing together can mean only good things.
“I mean, (the Big 3), we’re getting there. We’re getting there,” Rose said. “We don’t know how good we can become. Not trying to put boundaries, or not trying to put ourselves in a box to how good we could become. We know how good we are but sky’s the limit for us. We can only get better.”
The former MVP thinks that the renewed energy with this Knicks team can bring some of the old fans back to the garden.
“I know we’re going to get to the point where we’re going to bring some Knick fans back to us. Like the fans who gave up on the team probably a while ago just off the strength of the direction the team was going. We’re going to bring them back.”
Rose isn’t the only member of the big three to be encouraged by this team. Anthony is encouraged by what the future holds.
“I think everybody wants that, everybody wants to get to the playoffs,” Anthony said. “But with this team and the talent that we have, we have the opportunity to do something special. And solidify ourselves as one of the top seeds in the East but we have to work on some things and get better.”
According to NBA.com, when Rose, Anthony, and Porzingis share the court together the Knicks have an offensive rating (points produced per 100 possessions) of 109.4. That would rank fifth in the NBA.
Of all three-man lineups that logged 400-plus minutes the big three are ranked 43rd in ORtg out the 122. It may not seem that impressive, but the new concept behind Jeff Hornacek’s offense has taken some time for these three stars to become accustomed to.
Also keep in mind that they are doing all that scoring against the other team’s starting unit.
The defensive metrics are bad. But the Knicks have been awful as a team on that end of the court (save Porzingis) the whole season, and no one was counting on Rose or Anthony to lock anyone down.
