The Ringers’ Howard Beck: How Long Layoff Could Impact Knicks in NBA Finals

The New York Knicks are in the NBA Finals and, for the moment, they are waiting. The Western Conference is still being settled, which leaves Mike Brown's team cooling its heels with roughly a week before tip-off. The question put to The Ringer's Howard Beck on the show was a familiar one in basketball: does rest sharpen a team, or does rust set in?

The 2001 Lakers came up as the cautionary tale. That team took 11 days off after sweeping its first three rounds, then dropped Game 1 to Allen Iverson and the Sixers before winning the next four. It was the only blemish on an otherwise spotless postseason. Was the rest, and the rust that came with it, to blame?

Beck allowed that it can creep in. He just doesn't see it derailing this team.

"This is just the consummate professionals," he said of the Knicks. "You see it every night in the way that they play. They never seem to lose focus. They never seem to get out of character. And I don't think that will happen now."

He also pushed back on the comparison itself. This is not 11 days like that Lakers team had, Beck noted. The Knicks' wait is more like eight, with the Finals set to start a week from the conversation. In the meantime, New York gets to sit back and watch the Spurs and Thunder beat each other up.

If anything, he framed the break as a gift for a roster that grinds itself down by June. "This is a team that tends to get banged up," Beck said, singling out Jalen Brunson, who by his read is enjoying his healthiest run since arriving in New York. The bumps and bruises of a deep playoff push make the downtime useful.

As for keeping the group sharp through the wait, Beck is content to leave that to the staff. "I'm sure Mike Brown will find ways to keep them sharp," he said. "This is a very professional group. I don't think they're going to need a lot to keep them sharp." The trick, he added, is simpler than it sounds: don't lose the rhythm you are already in.