The New York Knicks entered this season full of hope.

With two of their chief Eastern Conference rivals—the Boston Celtics (Jayson Tatum) and Indiana Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton)—set to miss their stars for the season due to injury, the path to the NBA Finals appeared clear. The optimism surrounding this team was bolstered further when they won last month’s NBA Cup over the San Antonio Spurs in a complete team effort that saw seven different players score at least 11 points. 

Instead, they have fallen short of expectations so far and find themselves in third place in the East. Currently, 27-18, they are six games behind the first place Detroit Pistons who have been the surprise of the season. They are also 1.5 games back of the Celtics who have pulled together a resilient campaign despite playing without Tatum.

After making it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, New York fired head coach Tom Thibodeau this past offseason and replaced him with another veteran, Mike Brown. This change has clearly not had its intended impact and the Knicks have only gotten worse as the season has gone on. They have won only four of their 12 games this January and this has sparked many difficult discussions surrounding the team, including the possibility of firing Brown this early into his tenure and trading All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns for a more defensive-minded center.

The advanced stats make clear what needs to be improved for these Knicks. New York ranks third in the league in offensive rating but sits a mediocre 17th defensively. Towns has never been a strong interior presence, though the slow start to the season of Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart has definitely contributed to this too. These three wings are the Knicks’ defensive engine and they need them to be at their best for this defense to function.

Nonetheless, the Knicks might not necessarily need a major reset to jolt them back into form. While Towns has never been an all-world defender, his elite abilities on offense are more than enough reason to keep him onboard. They already have a player on their current roster who can balance out Towns’ deficiencies in Mitchell Robinson. The oft-injured center seems to finally be healthy and played a major role in New York’s latest win, 112-109, over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Robinson changed the energy of the game in the third quarter. He limited Embiid, who scored 38 points in the night, to zero points during the period while hustling all over the floor. The 27-year-old center finished with six points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks along with a game-high +/- of +14 which highlights how impactful his minutes were.

It is clear that the Knicks already have the pieces that they need to contend. Towns and Jalen Brunson can score with the best of them, their rotation of wings is among the best in the league, and their reserves such as Robinson, Deuce McBride, and Landry Shamet bring in consistent energy whenever they are on the floor. As Brown grows more comfortable with this roster, the wins should start to come more frequently as well.

Some patience is needed with this New York team and if they can stick together, the collective experience that they have from last year’s deep postseason run should only help them put together another one this season.