Three Takeaways from Knicks' Win Over Timberwolves

Miles McBride was similarly effective against the Wolves, and contributed enough scoring and defensive activity to win the coveted hard hat and Timbs postgame. His and Hart's comfortability with the rest of the Knicks may have pushed the free agents down a few pegs in the minute column, but Clarkson and Yabusele made decent uses of their possessions in shooting a combined 5/9 from the floor.

Those aforementioned reserve guards matched the four non-Mitchell Robinson starters in double-figure scoring, finally delivering on Brown's desire for a well-rounded attack in the form of a staggering 53 bench points.

OG Listened, and Remained Effective

Arguably their most impressive performer through the first few weeks of regular season action hasn't been one of the Knicks' All-Stars, or even one of their newcomers. OG Anunoby, the defense-first stabilizer along the wing, has come out blazing from 3-point land.

The 41.4% mark he's hitting at makes for Anunoby's first time crossing the exclusive 40% threshold, and the volume he's firing at makes his success even more impressive. He nearly matched his career-high in volume last season with 6.2 attempts per game, and he's already blown through that in hoisting 7.3 long jumpers every night.

Some fans have raised concerns about Anunoby's trigger, quicker than ever, given that he's historically been more of an occasional spot-up guy than a load-bearing sniper. He's not willing to die behind the arc, more than willing to attack a closeout or drive on the catch, and he answered some of those critics with an efficient 3/5 outing from long-range against Minnesota.

And it's not as if the big wing just stopped heaving; he led the squad with 25 points, converting on seven of his 12 within-the-arc attempts thanks to his heads-up transition play and comfortability penetrating a wide-open interior. If anyone was frightened that he was settling too much, he just demonstrated how willing he is to keep putting the ball on the floor.

Mitchell Robinson's Rebounding is Irreplaceable

The Knicks dearly missed their starting center over the first couple of games, but that's how the Mitchell Robinson story often goes. He's a one-of-one rebounder and versatile defender when he's available, but you may have to wait on his body to catch up.

Even while Karl-Anthony Towns experienced some resistance in returning to the team he spent nearly a decade with, the Knicks still held their own in the contest between contenders, and so much of that can be attributed to Robinson. His eight points and 10 rebounds may look like a ho-hum box score for a center until you take a closer look; nine of his boards arrived on the offensive glass.

Jalen Brunson clanked numerous shots he'd normally make between the 3-pointers that haven't been falling this year or the simple pull-ups in the midrange, but Robinson was never far to clean up misses and messes. The Knicks veteran never stops fighting and dishing back out to his perimeter-oriented teammates, and his filling in for some of the more standard role-playing center responsibilities has empowered Towns to play his own style to the best of his ability.

The Knicks dearly missed that extra effort while he was gone, losing about as many games as they won over the course of the season's first two weeks, but their current 5-3 record arrives off of the back of three consecutive wins now that they're as healthy as they've been.