After losing to the New York Knicks in the playoffs last year, the Boston Celtics know that New York isn’t going away anytime soon. The same can be said for any other hopeful contender in the Eastern Conference: to each of them, the Knicks are a legit barrier.
After a rocky start to the season, which had New York’s decision to fire Tom Thibodeau not looking great, the Knicks have bounced back, stabilized, and begun to excel again. They already had a bunch of roster talent in place, of course, but new head coach Mike Brown has added some wrinkles that have improved the Knicks along the margins.
One of those wrinkles is the emergence of second-year point guard Tyler Kolek, who has received more opportunity from Brown than he did from Thibodeau.
Sure, part of this has to do with Kolek being a year older and more experienced, but another part of it is that Brown is more liberal with his rotation than Thibs, who famously plays the same six or seven players into the ground (and has found his own success with it, to his credit).
Kolek only appeared in 41 games last year, at a 7.2 minutes per game rate. The Marquette guard has already appeared in 25 games this season under Brown, averaging 12.7 minutes per game as Jalen Brunson’s full-time backup.
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On Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Brown gave Kolek his first career start, and Kolek did not disappoint in the slightest.
The 24-year-old lefty flirted with a triple-double, dropping 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in a statement performance.
Kolek’s growing confidence is a wonderful development for the Knicks, just as much as it’s a terrible development for the rest of the East. The Knicks have struggled in recent years to find a viable backup who can spell Brunson without presiding over a severe drop-off in quality. Kolek isn’t going to be Brunson out there, obviously, but he can more than hold his own running an offense, and he’s a threat to score, too. This means the Knicks just leveled up as a team when Brunson is resting.
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New York was two wins away from the NBA Finals last season. If they can improve marginally, they can take a step further. Kolek represents a small improvement to the depth chart that might help New York take that step.
He might seem like an inconsequential element in the East arms race, but look closer, and you’ll realize the importance of Kolek’s rise.
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Featured image via Jesse Johnson/Imagn Images
