Layups: Knicks Do Everything But Win vs. Denver

via basketballreference.com

"The New York Knicks did everything in their statistical power to beat the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.


They made more field goals. They made more 3-pointers. They had more rebounds. They had more assists. They had fewer turnovers. And they had more blocked shots.


The Elias Sports Bureau told us that the last 266 times a team outperformed its opponent in all of those statistical categories, that team won the game.


Except the Knicks didn't win. They lost again, 120-118, their sixth straight defeat, this one starting a tough West Coast road trip. "

Of course, raw stats can deceive. Looking at our boxscore, we see that while New York did control the turnover battle and the boards, they were also beaten somewhat handily in eFG% and FT/FGA. That's bad, because eFG% in particular is far and away the most important of the Four Factors, the key statistical indicators of team success.

		Four Factors
	Pace	eFG%	TOV%	ORB%	FT/FGA	ORtg
NYK	105.9	.485	8.9	30.6	.235	111.5
DEN	105.9	.517	10.9	21.7	.360	113.3

It's interesting that the Knickerbockers' latest loss (their 6th straight) came against Denver, a team whose star player (Carmelo Anthony) is constantly being linked to New York in trade rumors. With that in mind, you should read Will Leitch's take on a potential Anthony-to-NY trade in this New York Magazine piece from last week.
Because D'Antoni is at the helm, one would think the Knicks' slide has been the defense's fault, but they're actually a respectable 13th in Defensive Efficiency even after last night's game. The problem has been the 24th-ranked offense, in no small measure because Amare Stoudemire currently has a 98.4 offensive rating and a -1.35 offensive SPM.
Would adding Carmelo (+3.40 OSPM) as soon as possible help with the Knicks' offensive struggles? Probably. But as Leitch points out, it would also wreck New York's rebuilding plan by forcing them to give up assets to Denver. If they wait until after the season (if and when a new CBA is in place), they could sign him for less than a max deal would cost today, and without losing a Gallinari, Douglas, Chandler, Randolph, Mozgov, or Fields in the process.

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