The Knicks boast the best pick-and-roll duo in the NBA – these numbers say it

mid-third quarter on Monday, Jalen Brunson brought the ball across the floor and dribbled towards a Karl Anthony cities Screen. When Brunson caught the attention of two Raptors defenders, he knew exactly what to do.

With Ochai Agbaji And Jakob Pöltl As Brunson approached, he took another dribble and threw a pass to a cutting Towns, who then made an easy layup. It was far from Town’s most important shot of the game – his three-pointer with six seconds left in the fourth period sealed the Knicks’ dramatic 113-108 win in Toronto – but that layup was another easy basket for the NBA’s pick-and-place best -Roll Duo.

The Knicks scored a league-high 1.23 points per game on the Brunson Towns pick-and-roll on Monday, according to Sportradar’s player tracking data. The metric measures Town’s screens for Brunson that directly lead to a scoring opportunity for himself, Brunson or another teammate.

“That’s why they did it,” an opposing scout said of the Towns trade. “If it works, the (Towns-Brunson pick-and-roll) will be tough for everyone.”

Yes, that’s one of the reasons the Knicks sent Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzoand a protected 2025 first-round pick to the Timberwolves for Towns in late September. New York knew Towns would have more room on offense, allowing them to play with five outs. They also knew they were getting one of the best pick-and-roll big men in the NBA.

Towns’ shots alone make him a major threat. According to one Sportradar metric, he is the league’s third-best shooter over the last 15 years, trailing only the legend Dirk Nowitzki and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. According to Sportradar, he owns the highest three-point percentage of his career among players ages 6 to 11 or older (minimum 1,000 attempts).

He also has the highest percentage in the league on three-point attempts from pick-and-pops (minimum 50 attempts). This season, Towns is at 43 percent on 21 of those attempts.

Towns’ screening was crucial to the Timberwolves’ offense last season and is now a major weapon for the Knicks.

Coming into Monday’s game, the Knicks were scoring 1.20 points per pick on Towns’ screens, which directly translated into a scoring opportunity for himself, the ball-handler or a teammate. According to Sportradar, this is the highest scoring average in the NBA among screeners with at least 100 direct picks.

That’s exactly what the Knicks were hoping for when they traded for Towns. Obviously their biggest questions so far this season are defense, and defense will determine whether or not they play in June. But there aren’t many questions about the pick-and-roll chemistry between Towns and Brunson.