The Knicks’ new identity under Mike Miller

The last time the Knicks headed west, they did so with a new coach.

Thursday, they flew west with a newfound defensive identity.

Owners of three straight wins, the Knicks have leaned on an improved defensive effort under interim coach Mike Miller. Their latest feat was holding the Trail Blazers to 16 fourth-quarter points in Wednesday’s 117-93 win at the Garden, highlighted by limiting Damian Lillard to 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting.

“I think it’s starting with our point guards,” Miller said. “I think Elfrid Payton and Frank [Ntilikina] did an outstanding job early. That’s a tough assignment, you’re not going to shut Lillard down, but you have to make it difficult and stay with it and play within ourselves. They started it and then our team defense was pretty sharp [Wednesday]. We have to keep building. We have to continue to keep putting in that kind of effort and focus and being active on that end. That is the direction that we want to take with that and keep it going.”

In 22 games this season before David Fizdale was fired, the Knicks ranked 25th in the NBA with a 112.9 defensive rating — an estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions. In 12 games under Miller, their defensive rating has improved to 108.6, good for 16th in the league during that stretch.

Part of that improvement has been making opponents change their shot selection. In Fizdale’s 22 games, the Knicks forced the second-fewest midrange shots (24.9 percent) in the league and owned the third-worst defensive shot profile, according to Cleaning the Glass. Since Miller took over, they have forced opponents to take more midrange shots (33 percent) and own the fourth-best defensive shot profile.

“Down the stretch in a lot of games we couldn’t figure out what we were going to or what we really wanted, but on the defensive end we are finding our identity,” Marcus Morris said. “We’re playing really well and playing really tough.”

Their current three-game surge began when the Knicks forced the Nets to shoot a brutal 26.9 percent in a 94-82 win on Dec. 26. Morris hopes the upgraded defensive effort is only just beginning.

“We are playing together. Defensively we’ve had a couple of games where we put up a great defensive performance,” Morris said. “It’s been good for us. We are going to continue to play hard, we’re not going to get content, we are going to continue to push.”

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