Knicks Named Frauds Heading Toward Playoffs

The New York Knicks are one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, but their defense is the reason behind their status as the third-best team in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

The Knicks defense was exposed in late February in big-time losses to Cleveland and Boston, prompting Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale to declare them as a fraud.

"Nearly three-quarters of the way through the regular season, we know who the New York Knicks are: a really good team that's eons away from genuine championship contention," Favale writes.

"Virtually every defensive concern is valid. The Knicks are 30th in points allowed per possession against top-10 offenses and only improve to 26th if you filter out their open-night shellacking at the hands of the Boston Celtics."

The biggest change on defense this season has come with swapping out Isaiah Hartenstein for Karl-Anthony Towns. While the team has seen improvement on offense, the same cannot be said for the defense.

"For as valuable as Karl-Anthony Towns' offense is at the center position, his defense can be even more damaging. The Celtics (11-of-15) and Cavs (12-of-13) this season are shooting a combined 82.8 percent against him at the rim. In the Boston matchup specifically, this barely scratches the surface of his issues," Favale writes.

"Mitchell Robinson's return will help some. It is not a cure-all. He hasn't played in over a year, there's no guarantee sliding Towns to the 4 pans out defensively, and even if it does, the Knicks sacrifice spacing by leaning on dual-big setups. Especially if they try to buy minutes with Josh Hart in those situations."

Robinson is in some ways the last line of defense. The Knicks aren't getting any more upgrades this season. The rotation is the group that will compete for the Knicks in the playoffs, assuming everyone is healthy. What we've seen from this group is that it isn't ready to compete on a championship level for defense.