Knicks Finally Unleash the Exodia Lineup Against the Sixers

The New York Knicks are finally rolling out the Exodia lineup on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers. According to Underdog NBA, New York is officially starting Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

This is the exact five-man group New York mortgaged its entire draft future to assemble. After getting absolutely boatraced by the Toronto Raptors 148-98 last week and dropping a 122-120 heartbreaker to them two days later, the vibes in Manhattan were approaching a localized state of emergency.

"Underdog NBA reported the lineup alert: 'Knicks will start Brunson, Bridges, Hart, Anunoby, Towns on Tuesday.'"

Getting Anunoby back on the floor is the skeleton key for this roster. He had been sidelined with a hamstring strain, forcing the Knicks into smaller emergency lineups that simply did not work.

How bad was it? The stopgap starting five featuring Miles McBride in Anunoby's place posted a miserable -10.3 net rating in their minutes together. You do not need an advanced analytics degree to know that getting outscored by double digits every 100 possessions is a fast track to the lottery.

Having Bridges and Hart flanking Anunoby gives New York its defensive identity back. Bridges has the injury history of a Nokia brick phone, playing all 82 games year after year, while Hart treats his body like a crash-test dummy.

Hart has a rap sheet of ankle and knee tweaks longer than a CVS receipt, but he still logged over 33 minutes a night recently because New York literally cannot function without him doing the dirty work.

For anyone eyeing the player props tonight, Anunoby’s return completely changes the defensive geometry and usage rates against Philadelphia. The spacing opens up for Brunson, and Towns gets to operate without the entire opposing frontcourt sitting in his lap.

If this fully operational, wildly expensive starting five cannot get right against the Sixers, the panic button in Madison Square Garden is going to get smashed straight through the floorboards.