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Knicks

This late-season stretch was defined by ruthless offensive efficiency and absolute dominance on the glass. During the 03/04 vs OKC matchup, Towns attempted just eight shots but still generated a massive +29.5 Impact score. He created immense non-scoring value by swallowing up 17 rebounds and hitting seven of those eight field goals, starving the opponent of second-chance opportunities. He later bullied his way to a staggering +32.4 Impact score on 03/22 vs WAS. That elite rating stemmed from pristine shot selection—hitting 9 of 13 from the floor—and securing another 16 boards to completely dictate the pace of the game. Conversely, his triple-double on 03/18 vs MEM yielded a surprisingly pedestrian +6.7 Impact score. Despite the flashy box score of 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, hidden defensive costs and a lack of disruptive hustle plays kept his overall influence muted. When Towns commits to owning the paint rather than just floating on the perimeter, he is an absolute terror.

This late-season stretch was defined by Jalen Brunson's stylistic flexibility, oscillating seamlessly between a relentless scoring machine and a pure, unselfish floor general. When his jumper completely abandoned him on 03/04 vs OKC, he still managed a +5.6 impact score despite a brutal 16-point, 5-for-18 shooting night. Rather than forcing bad shots, he leaned heavily into his playmaking, dishing out 15 assists and manipulating the Thunder defense to generate high-value looks for his teammates. Conversely, empty calories plagued him during the 03/08 vs LAL matchup. He poured in 24 points, but his -1.3 impact score exposed the hidden costs of a ball-dominant, 8-for-19 shooting effort that bogged down the offensive flow. Yet, when his shot selection was pristine, he was utterly unguardable. He carved up the defense on 04/10 vs TOR, posting a massive +25.2 impact score by dropping 29 points on a surgical 12-for-18 from the floor.

This late-season stretch was defined by explosive two-way peaks that drove winning basketball even when his jumper briefly vanished. He completely dismantled his matchup on 03/06 vs DEN, erupting for 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting to generate an absurd +46.2 Impact score. That massive grade stemmed directly from his lethal shot selection and relentless defensive disruption against a premium opponent. He tapped into that same ruthless efficiency during the 03/17 vs IND contest, bullying his way to 26 points and eight rebounds on 10-of-13 from the floor for a +30.3 Impact score. Yet even when his offensive rhythm completely abandoned him, Anunoby found ways to contribute. The math still favored him on 03/31 vs HOU. Despite managing a meager eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, he posted a +6.2 Impact score because he channeled his energy away from forcing bad looks and into grabbing six hard-nosed rebounds while playing suffocating hustle defense.

Baffling offensive passivity and a severe shooting slump defined this brutal late-season stretch for Mikal Bridges. He initially looked sharp during Mar 01 vs SAS, posting a massive +19.3 impact score driven by suffocating perimeter defense and lethal scoring. However, his aggression quickly vanished. During Mar 09 vs LAC, he managed a meager 7 points, yet still scraped together a +3.9 impact score entirely because his elite defensive effort (+13.1) salvaged his quiet night. Conversely, when he did manage to find the basket, hidden costs often ruined his overall value. Despite scoring 15 points during Mar 04 vs OKC, Bridges posted a dismal -7.7 impact. He spent the evening forcing contested jumpers against set defenses, cratering his efficiency and stalling the offensive flow. For a player usually known for his reliability, this bizarre mix of hesitation and poor shot selection created a deeply frustrating run.

Josh Hart spent this late-season stretch operating as the ultimate chaotic neutral, swinging wildly between offensive irrelevance and sudden scoring explosions while maintaining his usual rebounding obsession. Even when his jump shot completely abandoned him, he found ways to tilt the floor. During the 03/01 vs SAS matchup, Hart bricked his way to a 4-for-14 shooting night but still managed a +6.3 Impact score by crashing the glass for 10 rebounds and keeping the offense flowing with seven assists. Then, out of nowhere, he would morph into an elite sniper. Look at his 03/17 vs IND performance, where he dropped a staggering 33 points on near-perfect 12-of-13 shooting to generate a massive +38.9 Impact. Yet, that aggression could vanish just as quickly. When he refused to look at the rim during the 04/06 vs ATL game, taking only three shots to finish with two points, his passivity dragged the half-court offense into the mud and resulted in a brutal -15.1 Impact. You never quite knew if you were getting a reluctant shooter or a sudden flamethrower, but his relentless motor on the boards ensured he usually left a positive footprint.

Mitchell Robinson spent this late-season stretch operating as a low-usage, high-efficiency wrecking ball in the paint. When thrust into the starting lineup on 03/13 vs IND, he completely devoured the glass. He pulled down 22 rebounds that night to generate a massive +26.2 Impact score. He earned another spot start on 04/03 vs CHI and responded with a flawless 7-for-7 shooting night, racking up 17 points and 11 rebounds for a staggering +27.7 Impact. Even when his offensive touches vanished, Robinson found ways to drastically alter games. During his 03/15 vs GSW appearance, he scored just 4 points but still posted a +10.0 Impact because of his relentless interior defense and ability to secure 10 rebounds in a mere 17 minutes. However, his limited offensive repertoire occasionally left him marginalized against quicker matchups. On 04/18 vs ATL, he managed only 4 rebounds and a single shot attempt in 14 minutes, resulting in a bleak -7.6 Impact as a complete lack of hustle plays dragged down his value.

Miles McBride's mid-season stretch was defined by a drastic Jekyll-and-Hyde split between his spot starts and his reserve minutes. Thrust into the starting lineup on 01/18 vs PHX, he erupted as a primary perimeter weapon by pouring in 23 points. His blistering 5-for-12 shooting from deep and aggressive offensive initiation fueled a massive +20.4 Impact score. However, that rhythm completely vanished whenever he returned to the bench. He hit rock bottom during a disastrous outing on 03/31 vs HOU, managing just three points on a brutal 1-for-9 shooting performance. That horrific shot selection and offensive stagnation crippled his minutes, yielding a dreadful -19.0 Impact score. He occasionally salvaged these quiet scoring nights with sheer grit, like when he posted a +3.1 Impact score on 04/03 vs CHI despite scoring only six points. In that contest, McBride relied entirely on relentless defensive ball pressure and hustle to tilt the floor without needing the ball in his hands.

A brutal shooting slump and erratic shot selection defined Landry Shamet's mid-season stretch. During the 03/09 vs LAC matchup, his trigger-happy approach yielded a disastrous -15.0 Impact score as he bricked nine of his twelve three-point attempts, actively shooting his team out of possessions. Even when he managed to reach double figures, his inefficient chucking harmed the offense. Despite scoring 10 points on 03/15 vs GSW, his poor perimeter shot selection and wasted offensive sets resulted in a -6.8 Impact. He did briefly find ways to contribute without the long ball, posting a +3.2 Impact on 03/04 vs OKC by attacking inside the arc for a highly efficient 14 points. However, a brief promotion to the starting lineup in mid-March failed to fix his broken jumper. By the 04/18 vs ATL game, his confidence looked entirely shot, managing just 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting to record a dismal -12.4 Impact.

This grueling stretch of the season was defined by garbage-time irrelevance before a late, desperate gasp for rotation minutes. Early on, Sochan was practically invisible on the floor. He sleepwalked through an 11-minute stint on 02/22 vs CHI, where his total lack of offensive aggression and defensive apathy resulted in a disastrous -9.3 Impact score. He barely broke a sweat on 03/01 vs SAS, logging just two minutes of empty cardio while dragging his team down to a -5.0 Impact score. It took until April for his coach to finally trust him with real run again. Given 17 minutes on 04/03 vs CHI, he managed only seven points but still posted a stellar +5.6 Impact score. That high mark despite a quiet scoring night was driven entirely by his relentless hustle, as he ripped down eight rebounds and finally anchored the defense instead of floating aimlessly on the perimeter.

Jose Alvarado’s final 20 games were a masterclass in chaotic inconsistency, swinging from a liability to a game-changing force from one night to the next. This stretch was defined by a brutal late-March slump, where his high-volume, inefficient shooting vs OKC on Mar 29 contributed to a dismal -13.0 impact score. Yet, his value as a spark plug remained undeniable, as he immediately responded with a +9.1 impact outburst vs HOU on Mar 31, injecting life with hyper-efficient scoring on 5-of-6 shooting. His peak came in a rare start vs CHA on Apr 12, where 34 minutes of action allowed him to unleash his defensive menace for a massive +9.3 defensive impact. Even when his offense disappeared, his value was clear; his two-point night vs CHI on Apr 03 still produced a positive impact because his +4.4 defensive rating came from wreaking his signature backcourt havoc. Alvarado wasn't a steady hand, but a jolt of pure energy whose contributions were measured in frantic possessions and forced turnovers.

This late-season stretch was defined by a jarring role reduction and a severe offensive slump. The veteran guard routinely bled value when stepping on the hardwood, bottoming out on 04/06 vs ATL with a staggering -18.4 Impact score in just 9 minutes. That abysmal rating stemmed from entirely empty possessions. He offered zero playmaking and generated no defensive pressure to offset his lackluster three points. The lone offensive explosion came on 03/11 vs UTA. He briefly turned back the clock with a blistering 27-point eruption, earning a massive +19.2 Impact score because his red-hot 10-of-15 shooting completely warped the opposing defense. He also found subtler ways to contribute, like on 03/24 vs NOP where he logged a +3.1 Impact despite scoring only 10 points. He salvaged his value that night by acting as a willing facilitator, dishing out 5 assists and keeping the ball moving rather than forcing bad shots.

Ariel Hukporti spent the bulk of this late-season stretch buried in deep-rotation purgatory, struggling to generate any positive momentum during erratic minutes off the bench. His outing on 03/04 vs OKC epitomized his offensive woes, yielding a dismal -14.5 Impact score as he failed to attempt a single shot or record an assist in nine completely empty minutes. Even when his raw box score looked respectable, underlying issues often dragged down his overall effectiveness. On 03/18 vs MEM, Hukporti tallied 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 12 minutes, yet still posted a -2.7 Impact score due to poor defensive positioning and a total lack of disruptive hustle plays. Thankfully, a sudden role change salvaged his finale. Stepping into the starting lineup on 04/12 vs CHA, he logged a massive 30 minutes and earned a +3.4 Impact score. Though he scored just 8 points, he created crucial winning value by crashing the glass for 9 rebounds and aggressively anchoring the interior defense.

Pacôme Dadiet’s late-season stretch was defined by erratic bench minutes and a frustrating shooting slump. He initially looked like a lethal sparkplug on 03/06 vs DEN. In just nine minutes, he drilled all three of his attempts from deep to post a +6.5 Impact score. That hot hand vanished immediately. On 03/22 vs WAS, rushed shot selection and zero counting stats resulted in a dismal -13.2 Impact score across four completely hollow minutes. He finally earned an extended look on 04/12 vs CHA, logging 27 minutes. Despite clanking four of his five perimeter attempts in that contest, his active rebounding and overall energy managed to yield a +2.0 Impact score.

This twenty-game stretch was defined by deep-bench irrelevance punctuated by bizarre, erratic flashes of playmaking. Kolek spent most nights stapled to the pine, struggling to find any rhythm during his sporadic garbage-time deployment. On 02/03 vs WAS, he was handed 21 minutes but posted an abysmal -15.9 impact score, as his six assists were completely negated by a disastrous 1-for-7 shooting performance that stalled the offense. He occasionally morphed into a hyper-efficient distributor, notably dishing out eight assists in a mere nine minutes on 03/06 vs DEN. However, his extreme passivity as a scorer in that contest still resulted in a -3.0 impact. His lone genuinely positive outing arrived on 03/22 vs WAS. In just five chaotic minutes, Kolek erupted for 11 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, earning a +2.0 impact simply by abandoning his usual hesitation and letting it fly. Ultimately, his inability to consistently threaten the basket kept him buried on the bench.

Kevin McCullar Jr. spent nearly this entire stretch buried in garbage time before a sudden, late-season offensive awakening redefined his value. For weeks, the wing was an absolute ghost on the hardwood. During a brief appearance on 02/08 vs BOS, he hoisted two empty shots and grabbed zero rebounds, resulting in a brutal -10.4 impact score driven by rushed shot selection and a total lack of peripheral production. His fleeting stints only grew worse, bottoming out on 03/11 vs UTA with an abysmal -13.6 impact score after failing to record a single counting stat in two minutes of invisible basketball. The narrative flipped completely at the end of this stretch. Given a massive bump in playing time on 04/12 vs CHA, McCullar poured in 14 points on crisp 6-of-11 shooting over 25 minutes. His +8.8 impact score in that contest wasn't a fluke; it was the direct result of finally finding an offensive rhythm and knocking down a pair of three-pointers when handed real rotational minutes.

Mohamed Diawara’s late-season stretch was defined by a brutal inability to translate playing time into winning basketball. Given a rare starting nod on 04/12 vs CHA, he logged a grueling 34 minutes but generated a dismal -12.9 Impact score. That disastrous rating stemmed directly from atrocious efficiency, as he clanked all five of his three-point attempts and choked the team's spacing. He did find a brief, chaotic spark earlier off the bench on 03/01 vs SAS, launching an absurd 13 threes in just 15 minutes to tally 14 points and a +4.1 Impact. The shot selection was wild. However, his aggressive perimeter gravity and a sudden burst of defensive energy actively fueled winning sequences. Yet, even when his jumper fell perfectly on 03/22 vs WAS, his 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting couldn't mask a -2.1 Impact. Zero assists and a complete lack of resistance on the other end of the floor dragged down his otherwise efficient night.

Guerschon Yabusele’s mid-season stretch was defined by maddening inconsistency and a wildly fluctuating role that saw him bounce between the starting five and the bench. During the 02/22 vs NYK matchup, he scored a modest 11 points but dominated the glass with 13 rebounds, driving a massive +12.1 Impact score through sheer physical rebounding and stout defensive effort. He reached his absolute peak shortly after on 03/03 vs OKC, pouring in 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting while grabbing 12 boards to generate a stellar +17.4 Impact. Yet, that momentum vanished almost immediately. Look at his 03/05 vs PHX performance, where he managed 16 points but posted a disappointing -1.1 Impact. His raw scoring totals in that Phoenix game masked the hidden costs of his erratic shot selection, as he needed 15 field goal attempts to get those 16 points while offering little resistance on the defensive end. When Yabusele commits to doing the dirty work in the paint, he is a genuine difference-maker. When he falls in love with inefficient jumpers, he becomes an active detriment to the lineup.