Tommy Beer

This game has been fun… let’s play 7 more of these in June

#SmallSampleSizeAlert

In the 46 minutes they've played together across seven games, the Knicks 3-man lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns, Mo Diawara and Jose Alvarado has posted a:

Offensive Rating: 132.6
Defensive Rating: 77.3
Net Rating: +55.3

seems pretty good.

The Knicks have ruled out Mitchell Robinson (injury management) for tonight’s game vs. OKC

Knicks Get Another Win North of the Border Final Score: Knicks 111 - Raptors 95

🚨 New Words 🚨

Knicks Get Another Win North of the Border

NY's dominant defense kept the contest close, allowing Captain Clutch and the offense to take over down the stretch.

📬 Freshly Delivered to Inboxes 📬

tommybeer.substack.com/p/knicks-get...

In case you were wondering, Jordan Clarkson posted a plus/minus of -77 in the Knicks' last 15 games before the trade deadline.

Really nice compliment to Brunson and gives the Knicks some real speed and pace when Brunson sits or even to take pressure off half-court when they play brief stints together. Thought he looked really good vs. Raptors.

That's the highest Net Rating by any two-man lineup in the NBA since the trade deadline.

The two-man lineup of Jose and KAT (El Gato and Grand Theft Alvarado) has been phenomenal.

In the 113 minutes the two have played together (not a minuscule sample size), the Knicks have posted a:
Defensive Rating: 92.6
Offensive Rating: 129.1
Net Rating: +36.5 (!!!)

Tuesday’s win was the 10th game Jose Alvarado has played in a Knicks uniform. He is a +93 over those ten contests.

Only three players in franchise history have posted a higher +/- over their first ten games with the Knicks:
Patrick Ewing, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart.

actually, I forgot to check... do the Knicks' most recent handful of victories still count??

I know there was talk of canceling the rest of the Knicks season after they lost to DET... not sure if that was finalized

Thus far this season, the Knicks have played a total of 25 games against the top-six teams in each conference.
New York is:
16-9 in those 25 contests.

Last season, the Knicks were ten games below. 500 in the regular season against the top-six teams in each conference:
10-20

Starting tonight in Toronto, the Knicks play five games in seven days.

Four of them are on the road (at TOR, at DEN, at LAL, at LAC).

The one home game is vs. OKC on the back-end of a road/home back-to-back

Welcome to Hell Week

Highest Net Rating among all qualified rookies in 2026:

1. Mo Diawara: +15.9
2. Hugo González: +15.3
3. Kon Knueppel: +10.3

Diawara is also one of only four rookies with a +/- above +75 since the start of 2026 (the other three are Knueppel, Gonzalez and Dyland Harper).

🚨 New Words 🚨

Knicks Stomp the Spurs in a Statement Win

We are witnessing arguably the best extended stretch of defense by any Knicks team since the prime of Patrick, Oakley, Starks, and Mase in the halcyon days of yore...

tommybeer.substack.com/p/knicks-sto...

1. OG Anunoby: 98.0
2. Karl-Anthony Towns: 99.0
3. Derrick White: 99.6
4. Ausar Thompson: 101.7
5. Davion Mitchell: 102.3
6. Josh Hart: 102.5
7. Bam Adebayo: 102.8
8. Victor Wembanyama: 103.3

Admittedly, individual Defensive Rating is a flawed metric.

However, it is definitely worth noting that KAT has the second-best DefRtg (best among all centers) in the NBA over all qualified players’ last 15 games:

In Sunday's victory over the Spurs, Mikal Bridges became just the fourth player in Knicks franchise history to tally 25+ points, 5+ boards, 5+ steals and 5+ made 3PTs in the same game, joining Brunson, Sprewell and Starbury.

Bridges is the first to do so in less than 35 mins.

On the season, the Knicks are now up to 8th in Defensive Efficiency.

New York is one of only two teams in the NBA to rank inside the top-5 in OffEff and inside the top-10 in DefEff this season.

2nd in Opponents' points in the paint (41.9)
2nd in Opponetes’ FG% (43.2%)
3rd in Opponents' fast-break points (12.1)
3rd in Defensive Rebound percentage (72.7%)

Knicks league-wide ranks in defensive metrics over the last six weeks:

1st in Defensive Efficiency (103.1)
1st in Opponents' points off turnovers (13.7)
1st in Opponetes’ 3PT% (31.2%)
1st in Opponents' second-chance points (11.6)

A large group of people, mostly men, standing in the rubble of a collapsed building. A headline reads: "Strike on Girls’ School Kills 115, Iranian State Media Says" Photo by Mehr News Agency

At least 115 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran on Saturday, health officials and state media said. It was not immediately clear which country hit the school. Our reporters are trying to confirm details of the attack. trib.al/HxXybV9

In the 18 games they've played thus far this season against the top five teams in each conference, the Knicks are 12-6

The top-5 best Net Ratings in the NBA over each team's last 15 games are all Eastern Conference clubs:

1. Knicks: +11.5
2. Pistons: +10.9
3. Cavs: +10.6
4. Hornets: +10.5
5. Celtics: +10.0

(after the loss to NY this afternoon, the Spurs fell to 6th at +9.6)

Michael Malone has been v. solid on the broadcast, esp considering it’s his first game

Just as expected, a young, tall, freakishly athletic French prospect putting on a show in the Spurs-Knicks Sunday matinee…

Mo Diawara

A young Mike Breen (“The Fordham Flash”) drills a jumper during a celebrity game at MSG in 1996

Good Win in Wisconsin ​Final Score: Knicks 127 - Bucks 98

🚨 New Words 🚨

Good Win in Wisconsin

​Fresh off a disappointing loss to Cleveland and with a brutal stretch of the schedule on the horizon, the Knicks needed to take care of business in Milwaukee Friday night...

tommybeer.substack.com/p/good-win-i...

Fewest games required to score 7,000 regular-season points as a Knick:

1. Jalen Brunson (265)
2. Carmelo Anthony (269)

Fewest games required to score 1,000 postseason points as a Knick:

1. Jalen Brunson (34)
2. Willis Reed (42)
3. Patrick Ewing (43)

Appreciate Brunson