Defensive woes highlight Myles McBride’s starting case

NEW YORK – The The New York Knicks are in the midst of their first three-game losing streak of the 2025-26 season after a 130-119 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Head coach Mike Brown consistently identified physicality as a problem for his group. He noted that trait as something they struggle with offensively and lacked defensively.

The coach may have a potential solution in Myles McBride. Although he started with Mitchell Robinson, Brown ended up with McBride instead of center. He told reporters after the game that he did the five-year-old played the final 4:26 because of his shooting and defensive physicality.

“We needed to score, so we’ve got to spread the floor and see if we can touch the paint and spray it. And knock down some threes, so that’s one of the reasons why I was small. And, I’ve said this before: Deuce is really good at the point of attack in terms of pick-and-roll defense when he’s on the ball, trying to get in the upper body and get it out, and why. The combination of those two things made me do it,” he explained. Brown.

McBride was one of the few bright spots on Saturday, when the team suffered its second loss in as many nights. He had 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes, leading the Knicks in plus-minus. The guard was one of two Knicks with a positive number in that column, continuing a season-long trend: his team-high net rating.

Would that extrapolate to more than the 26.9 minutes he is averaging per game in 24 appearances? His skill set certainly helps solve two of New York’s biggest problems this season, especially according to his coach. If the Knicks continue to struggle defensively and against physicality on both ends, moving McBride into the starting lineup could be a worthwhile experiment.

Mike Brown Says Knicks’ Miles McBride Has Unique ‘Green Light’

Brown isn’t just aware that McBride is leading the team in the plus-minus: He’s not surprised by it. The coach told reporters on Friday that the numbers matched the eye test.

“He’s a baller, man. Defensively, he gets to the ball really well … he kind of helps nullify our opponents’ pick-and-roll game when he’s out there, which helps a lot because the NBA is all about the pick-and-roll,” the coach said of the former second-round pick. “And then, you know, he can score, he can shoot. If you leave him open, he’ll probably make it. If you close too hard, he has a chance to hit past you. He can get to his middle or spray it. He’s a baller, I’m not surprised his net rating is high.”

Brown also attributes some of McBride’s success to his understanding of their offensive scheme. Brown says the guard’s comfort level with the system made him an effective screener. This led the coach to give him an unusual kind of “green light”.

“He’s definitely intentional about it,” Brown noted on McBride’s display setup. “He does a lot of it himself, you know? He knows what our spacing looks like, he knows when he can set and set a screen on KAT’s guy, and, you know, like I said, he just has a pretty good feel for when to do it, how to do it. He definitely has the green light for that.”

Should Brown try McBride with the starters?

McBride recently missed eight games with a sprained ankle, but ironically has been the best in four games since his return. Since returning to action, he has averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and a steal. That’s partly due to his 45.2% 3-point accuracy on about 7.8 attempts a night, in line with his season rate of 44.5%.

The organization has a developing success story in McBride, who first flashed his elite shooting while on assignment at Westchester. He is tied with Rui Hachimura for the league heading into Saturday ninth best 3-point percentage this season. Jamal Murray is the only player ahead of young Knick who averages more attempts per game from behind the arc. This season, McBride is on track to make over 40% of his 3-pointers. It would be his second time in five seasons.

Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart provide unique advantages when on the court and have strong cases for the Knicks’ fifth starting spot alongside Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns. With Robinson in and out of the lineup for load management, Brown turned to the high-motor Hart for consistency.

With Hart about to miss out at least three more games, the head coach has the opportunity to try McBride with the starters. The guard sets up space and brings the physical defense needed to shift Bridges into a defensive role more concerned with destroying the ball.

Brown was open on almost everything else so far. His team was statistically the best with McBride on the court. Why not try to lean on the guy the coach says provides direct solutions to the team’s two most consistent deficiencies in losses?