Knicks' 0-3 Start: Four Reasons Behind the Slump

The New York Knicks have started the season 0-3, and the reasons behind their early struggles are clear. The team has played against the Sixers, Celtics, and Magic, and the Magic shot uncharacteristically well from 3. But that doesn't explain New York's own shortcomings in this winless start. The Knicks are ice cold to start this season, and their true-shooting percentage is the lowest in the league. Only Charlotte has a worse traditional shooting clip than New York's 40.8%. Add in a 32.4% 3-point mark, and you can see why the Knicks own the league's second-worst offensive rating to start the season.

This is in stark contrast to the Knicks team we watched buzz-saw its way to the title last season, when they were the playoff leader in both field-goal and 3-point percentage. Think about all the tough shots we watched Jalen Brunson make on that postseason run, particularly late in games. So far, those shots, most of which are pretty similar looks are not going in at anywhere close to the same clip.

Mikal Bridges has gone from hero to zero. He was unquestionably one of the playoff heroes. After a slow start in the first round against Atlanta, he was incredible on both ends throughout New York's run. To say that he's been dreadful to start this season would be putting it politely.

The Knicks are turning the ball over on almost 17% of their possessions so far, up from 13.9% last season. That might not sound like a lot, and it's also true that New York turned the basketball over on 16.6% of its possessions in the playoffs and obviously fared more than fine. But it's the points these turnovers are directly leading to for their opponents that are killing them.

The Knicks are actually doing a fine job of limiting transition possessions, but when teams have been able to run on them, they have been cut up to the tune of 145.5 points per transition play, the fourth-worst mark in the league, per Cleaning the Glass.