Knicks Magic Preview

Well, it's Tuesday afternoon and that can only mean one thing. Well, I suppose it could mean several things, but for the purposes of this post, it only means one: the Knicks are back on TV.

Just look at those high kicks.

Tip-off is at 7 pm against the new-look Magic. It's going to be fun. I have some stats and stuff so keep reading after the jump. Or don't. But do it, please. For me.
I know it's early and that Knicks fans tend to treat every good moment we get like the coming of the Messiah and every bad one like Isiah Thomas has just been rehired (oh, wait they tried that? Whoops), but god damn our boys in blue and orange have been exciting to watch this year. And not exciting in the usual-Knicks way where they look like they are going to win a game and then give up the lead in the fourth quarter. Exciting like they are playing really good basketball. In fact, they are playing the best basketball in the league right now. Don't believe me? Here are some stats, courtesy of http://hoopdata.com/teamff.aspx:

The Knicks currently have the highest offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) in the league at 112.2--that's .1 higher than the reigning champs! Not only that, but they have the best defensive efficiency in the league, giving up only 93.2 points per 100 possessions. The next best defensive efficiency is Oklahoma City at 94.7.

The Knicks also have the fourth highest Effective field goal percentage in the league at 53.04, behind just the Heat, the Clips, and the Spurs. Not bad company to be in, especially when it is complemented by forcing the third-lowest Effective field goal percentage in their opponents (45.58), again behind the Heat and Thunder.

Also, in a twist few people could have seen coming, the Knicks have the lowest turnover rate in the league, averaging out at just 10.88 percent of possessions ending in turnovers, while forcing a league-leading 17.12 turnover rate. That's impressive.

However, possibly the most inspiring thing about this season's Knicks is their offensive creativity, described in amazing detail and with lots of lovely videos to watch here by Jared Dubin. We are seeing less Melo isolations and more ball-movement. It doesn't hurt that J.R. is averaging 17.5 points and has dropped 20 off the bench twice so far this season.

Now, I'm a realist. I understand that the Knicks will have a hard time keeping up this kind of dominant, beautiful dance they are calling basketball. Especially with a long road trip ahead of them, people will start getting tired, games will be lost (!!!), and Melo will sometimes revert to the thing he knows best--stopping the ball and taking on an entire defense single-handedly. But Woodson seems like he's in good control of this squad. He's got JR and Carmelo playing arguably the best defense of their careers, Rasheed scoring and rebounding, and everything else that could be working is working.

Now comes the ultimate test for any Knicks team: How will it fair against a sub-par opponent? So far the three teams they have faced are all at least playoff contenders. The Knicks have a sad history of losing to bad teams--this is a team that lost to the worst team to ever play the game last year (one of their seven (SEVEN) victories on the season, I might add) and split the season series with Toronto. The Knicks of old seemed to genuinely enjoy playing down to the level of their opponents, and worse, weren't even good at it. And believe me when I say that this Magic team is bad. They surprisingly won their first two games, and have lost their subsequent four. Jameer Nelson, the only other All-Star caliber player on the team, is a game-time decision, and so far this season, Arron Afflalo and Big Baby Davis have been the only real bright spots.

But this is a new Knicks team. This is Woodson's team. Can they stay undefeated? I don't know. But I sure hope so. I leave you with a picture of Big Baby drooling, which I assume is some kind of pregame ritual for him.