The Knicks’ biggest weakness right now is where Miles McBride is confident he can help out and be elite.
He put it simply.
“I know I can be one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the NBA,” McBride said after the Knicks’ 123-111 win over the Clippers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. “I believe in myself, I believe that guarding really gets us going, gets us out in transition, which we did throughout the second half, which was really big for us.”
A lack of a strong point-of-attack defender was again glaring during the Knicks’ four-game skid, when their defense as a whole fell apart. Mikal Bridges, perhaps miscast in that role, has struggled the last two years with that responsibility. He and OG Anunoby are better on the wing and acting as help defenders rather than getting matched up on smaller, quicker ball handlers initiating the offense. Jalen Brunson’s defensive shortcomings are well-documented, with the Knicks usually trying to hide him on opponents’ least threatening scorers.
It has resulted in an inability to keep opponents from penetrating into the lane and forcing the defense to collapse.
McBride, though, has emerged as the Knicks’ best option in that role. He was inserted into the starting lineup Wednesday with Josh Hart (sprained ankle) still out and got his biggest workload in over a month.
“Defensively, he’s an extremely good on-ball defender, especially when it comes to the pick-and-roll game,” coach Mike Brown said. “He’s strong, he’s powerful, he’s quick, he’s athletic and he’s a little longer than what you think so when that screen comes, he knows you should one-two into the ball, get that shoulder and hip over that screen at the same time as the ball. This way, your opponent won’t have an advantage in the pick-and-roll game.”
McBride spent a good amount of time guarding James Harden, who finished with 23 points. But, according to NBA.com’s tracking stats, only seven of those points came with McBride as his primary defender, with Harden shooting 1-for-5 from the field.
“He’s crafty, but people don’t know how physical he is,” McBride said of Harden. “If you don’t use a little bit of physicality back, he has you beat in a lot of aspects, obviously shotmaking. I pride myself on what I do. You’re not gonna be able to take away everything, but make it as hard as you can.”
Listed at just 6-foot-2, McBride’s strength often goes under the radar. But he’s as physical a defender as the Knicks have.
He was Brown’s Defensive Player of the Game on Wednesday.
“Obviously, there was a size disadvantage with James, but he did a great job on James,” Brown said. “You’re not gonna stop him, you just hope he misses some of those shots, and he did. Deuce tried to get up underneath him.”
McBride’s red-hot 3-point shooting is how he’s earned most of his plaudits recently. In six games since coming back from an ankle injury, he is shooting 47.9 percent from deep. And for the season, he’s at 45.3 percent.
When he entered the league, though, his defense was his calling card, with more of an unpolished offensive game. He played collegiately at West Virginia under Bob Huggins, who demanded physical on-ball defense as his teams’ identity throughout his coaching tenure.
McBride’s shooting is what gets the most attention. But it’s his ability as a point-of-attack defender that is most irreplaceable for the Knicks.
“Not only his shooting that was great — it was fantastic tonight and he’s been great shooting all year shooting the ball — but his defense was great, too,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It kept us in the game. His shooting and his defense gave us a chance every possession to guard our lead. Deuce was special tonight.”
That shooting ability and on-ball defending prowess have helped him develop into a valuable two-way player five years into his NBA career. It’s not a coincidence his net rating of 10.7 points is the best on the team.
“He plays great,” Brunson said. “Whatever is asked of him, he provides and he produces. That’s just who he is as a player, as a competitor, as a person. Whatever is asked of him, he’s gonna contribute and do the best he can.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
