New York Knicks: Justin Holiday Might Be The Secret Weapon

The New York Knicks dominate when Justin Holiday plays with Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Kristaps Porzinigs. Is he the secret to their success?

Nov 20, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Justin Holiday (8) reacts after scoring a three point basket during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks won 104-94. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

It’s only December, but Justin Holiday’s performance this season has already placed him in the “Man, this dude is only making $1 million this year?” category. He was essentially a throw-in to the blockbuster Derrick Rose trade.

22 games into the 2016-17 NBA regular season, Holiday doesn’t seem like much of a throw-in at all.

Holiday is playing 18.8 minutes per game, shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range, and receiving big minutes in clutch situations. In terms of net rating, he’s involved in the Knicks’ best two, three, four, and five-man lineup combinations.

It seems that the Knicks thrive whenever they play him alongside Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, and Kristaps Porzingis. The obvious question is: why?

Dec 7, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard Justin Holiday (8) warms up before a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

It’s Just 94 Minutes, But…

The Knicks have outscored opponents by 21.8 points per 100 possessions with Rose, Holiday, Anthony, and Porzingis on the court. They have posted a ridiculous 132.4 offensive rating, largely thanks to Rose creating offense by slashing into the paint.

With Holiday on the court, Rose is 23-of-39 on 2-point attempts and has been nearly unstoppable within 10 feet while contributing a respectable 14 assists and committing just five turnovers.

Rose has scored with well above-average efficiency with a 57.8 eFG% and a 60.6 TS—both significantly higher than his respective season marks of 46.3% and 51.1%.

Anthony and Holiday have also been supremely efficient with this group on the court. Holiday is 12-of-25 from the field and 7-of-14 from behind the arc. Anthony is 22-of-41 from the field with an especially absurd 66.7 True Shooting Percentage despite his love for long 2-point jumpers.

Porzingis comes off as a bit of an oddity here, as he has struggled to score while maintaining his typical usage. With this group, he’s scoring with well below-average efficiency and shooting just 26.7 percent from distance.

This isn’t a cause for concern, as he’s contributed defensively and passed the ball well, and his trouble scoring has in no way hurt the team’s offense.

Holiday, Anthony, and Porzingis are the team’s most productive threesome, while Holiday and Porzingis are the most productive duo. This team has very simply been at its best, especially offensively, when Holiday appears alongside the Knicks’ three stars.

Why exactly this has become the case isn’t quite clear yet in this young NBA season, but the Knicks’ December 2 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves gives us a pretty good idea of what Holiday brings to the table and why the team has been so successful when he shares the court with their three main scorers.

Nov 30, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks guard Justin Holiday (8) during a game at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 106-104. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring

Justin Holiday got the start against the Minnesota Timberwolves with Courtney Lee injured and inactive. His typically excellent shooting when paired with Rose, Anthony, and Porzingis didn’t show up that night.

He shot 3-of-9 from the field, but managed 13 points and maintained his efficiency by getting to the free throw line, where he was 5-of-5.

When Holiday plays with the Knicks’ three offensive juggernauts, he tends to float around the perimeter seemingly aimlessly. This is understandable, right? Any specific play Jeff Hornacek calls will obviously be designed to get one of those three a shot.

When the offense breaks down and the shot clock dwindles, the ball is nearly guaranteed to end up in one of their hands for a shot.

While his movement might appear random and aimless, he has a knack for springing into action when necessary. He’s very good at reading the offense’s progression. He knows exactly when and where he has to move to get into open space, and takes advantage of his rare opportunities to drive to the basket.

Case in point: the first clip in the video above. Holiday spends nearly the entire possession standing in the corner, taking one or two steps at most in either direction.

As the shot clock runs down, Anthony receives the ball in the post. Zach LaVine cheats over to provide weak side help and completely turns his back to Holiday. Holiday, now wide open, immediately recognizes this, crouches into his shooting stance, extends his hands, and slides a few feet to his left into even more wide open space.

‘Melo, surrounded by the entire Wolves front court and with LaVine and Ricky Rubio fixated on him, wisely spots Holiday, ready and wide open in the corner for the easy 3.

Holiday has a relatively quick-release jumper, but seems to rush it at times. He doesn’t take many bad shots, though that could very easily be a product of him simply not being very involved in the Knicks’ offense.

Still, there’s something to be said for Holiday clearly understanding his role and playing within it.

Nov 14, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Justin Holiday (8) looks to pass defended by Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry (30) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Passing

Justin Holiday’s passing is low-key impressive. He recorded no assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 2, but he made a trio of skillful passes that should have finished with made field goals.

While the darts he threw to Kyle O’Quinn and Willy Hernangomez for what should have been easy layups were definitely great passes, the first in the video above was my personal favorite.

Here, Holiday catches the ball on the wing as Kristaps Porzingis heads toward him to set a screen to his right. Zach LaVine sees the screen coming and cheats towards it ever so slightly.

Holiday takes advantage of this, rips through, and explodes to his left. Gorgui Dieng, guarding Porzingis, slides into the paint to help and slams right into Carmelo Anthony, leaving KP wide open behind the arc.

The New York Knicks’ secret weapon keeps his eye on Porzingis and allows the play to develop.

With Dieng tied up in the paint and LaVine overcorrecting his slight misstep, Porzinigis ends up on an island, but can’t bury the wide open three. Porzinigis is constantly open on pick and pops. Teams simply don’t know how to defend it.

Holiday showed the willingness here to execute something that Brandon Jennings and Derrick Rose don’t do enough.

Nov 6, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Shelvin Mack (8) drives the ball against New York Knicks shooting guard Justin Holiday (8) during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Utah won 114-109. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

Justin Holiday is long, quick, very athletic, and knows how to use his rangy body to fight through screens, recover, and stay in front of his man. He drew the responsibility of covering both of Minnesota’s best wings in Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins, and had some impressive defensive possessions against each of them.

Here you’ll see Holiday fight through screens and relentlessly harass LaVine, forcing him on two occasions to change his mind from shot to pass in midair. On some less obvious possessions, Holiday manages to blow up Minnesota’s offense. He forces a couple of bad shots simply by sticking right in LaVine’s hip and preventing him from getting the ball.

His late fourth quarter block on Nemanja Bjelica was pretty impressive too, if only for the sheer athleticism he displayed. As Carmelo Anthony slows Bjelica down in the paint, Holiday sprints from the other 3-point line, gathers himself, and uses his leaping ability to send Bjelica’s (granted, very weak) attempt straight into the hardwood.

He even jumps too early but just hangs in the air for a split second to make the play.

On the other hand, Holiday had a few terrible possessions in a row defending Shabazz Muhammad in this very same game. He does lose his man from time to time and tends to cheat a little too far into the paint when guarding 3-point shooters.

These are areas that he can improve in if he’s willing to put the work in with the New York Knicks’ coaching staff.

Nov 16, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Justin Holiday (8) drives to the basket against Detroit Pistons forward Stanley Johnson (7) during second half at Madison Square Garden. The New York Knicks defeated the Detroit Pistons 105-102. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

So Why Does Everything Come Up Holiday?

Look, it’s possible that early season small samples and wonky performance completely explain why Justin Holiday seems to randomly be a part of all of the New York Knicks’ best lineups. The point differentials are guaranteed to decrease.

As the season progresses, we might see less and less of the Knicks’ best net rating lineups contain Justin Holiday.

Courtney Lee’s injury could account for a good bit of it. Holiday started in his place in two wins in a row against bad teams, and the Knicks racked up points while he was on the court.

Still, it can’t hurt to give the guy some more minutes with the starters. Holiday can do a few things that Lee can’t do on both ends, while Lee is the superior scorer.

If it doesn’t work out, so be it. This is a good problem to have.

For now, Holiday might be the Knicks’ secret weapon.