A top-tier offense has an imbalance. A feel-good squad is feeling even better. And a role player is shining outside of his role.

Let’s open up the notebook to run through three NBA trends that have caught my eye over the past week:

Holding their breath

The New York Knicks didn’t just lose their engine. They lost the hood, the windshield and the side mirrors, too.

To end a thriller Thursday — one in which the Los Angeles Lakers roared back from a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime — the Knicks needed one minute of organized offense to give themselves a chance. And they couldn’t do it.

But who can drive when half the car is missing?

With 1 minute, 20 seconds left in OT, All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson rolled his ankle while driving to the basket, landing on the foot of Austin Reaves and staying in the game to nail both free throws before limping to the locker room. He didn’t return, though there wasn’t much time to do so.

The Knicks needed to piece together 80 seconds of scoring without him. Aside from a hectic OG Anunoby layup, they couldn’t do it.

Miles McBride entered for Brunson and pulled up for a contested, errant midrange jumper on the first possession. The Lakers raced to the Knicks’ shooters on the perimeter. Los Angeles traded shot-swatting star Anthony Davis a month ago, but its defense hasn’t looked this cohesive all season. The Lakers funneled offense to Josh Hart, the worst shooter in the Knicks’ starting lineup, for much of the fourth quarter and overtime, when All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns received only two shots.

But this also isn’t new for the Knicks in crunchtime, which Brunson owns.

Take him away, and New York devolves into something quite different. If he has to sit out, the Knicks’ late-game offense will miss him maybe more than any other team could yearn for one guy.

Brunson scored or assisted on 16 of the Knicks’ 18 points over the final 10 minutes Thursday — and those two points came only after he got hurt. He is the league’s premier crunch-time player this season, averaging 44.5 points per 36 minutes when games are within five points with five or fewer minutes to go, best in the NBA.

And he’s not chucking indiscriminately. His efficiency goes up in those moments. He’s hit game-winners and momentum-swingers. And the Knicks have been one of the NBA’s top teams in these situations.

But there is a hint of chucking.

During those close-and-late moments, Brunson finishes 45 percent of the Knicks’ possessions with a shot, a turnover or a foul drawn. That’s the highest rate in the NBA and is three times greater than any other New York starters’ figure. The Knicks employ another All-Star starter, Towns, but it becomes clear in fourth quarters that this is Brunson’s team. Towns finishes only 12.6 percent of their clutch-time possessions.

New York has succeeded without balance as long as Brunson is there. But if he’s not, the late-game offense requires an overhaul.

A new top dog

Only one beast can make the hot defending champs look like schlubs: the Detroit Pistons.

One season after winning only 14 games, the Pistons, who are just two games back of the fourth-place Milwaukee Bucks, have a chance at home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Detroit (35-28) has won 10 of its past 12 games against a mostly cushy schedule, which does include a 20-point thrashing of the Boston Celtics. Yet, one theme has stood out: Independent of whom they’re playing, the Pistons guard like a group of maniacs.

Over this stretch, which has lasted for a month, they are allowing fewer points per possession than any other team in the NBA. They’re chaotic, rushing to threats on the perimeter, which leads to too many fouls but also discombobulated offense. Big men will venture far from the basket. Wings will dart to the basketball. One in six of their defensive possessions ends in a turnover, fourth in the NBA over this stretch.

Second-year energizer Ausar Thompson looks like his twin, and not just because of his DNA. Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson is due for an All-Defense appearance this season. His brother is becoming just as disruptive in passing lanes, a scrambler of offenses only an omelet chef could appreciate.

Isaiah Stewart deserves All-Defense consideration, too. Opponents are shooting just 46 percent on dunks and layups when he’s the closest defender. It’s just not the best figure in the league this season, but the best one in five years.

The Pistons will switch him onto perimeter players. The undersized center is quick enough to stay in front of ballhandlers and maniacal enough to battle with big men who tower over him.

Watch LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac, one of the NBA’s strongest brutes, fail to back Stewart down with the hopes of using his go-to move, a right-handed hook shot, only for Stewart not to move and eliminate any chance of a basket:

(Side note: If you love hook shots, watch every Clippers game. Zubac took 20 shots against the Pistons, and 14 of them were right-handed hooks.)

The Pistons are allowing just 62 percent shooting in the restricted area during this stretch, fourth in the NBA. The starters are annihilating opponents.

Jalen Duren, a defensive liability over his first few pro seasons, is performing better than ever. The Pistons don’t give up second-chance points. Duren is gobbling up 30.4 percent of opponents’ misses when he’s on the court in these 12 games, a percentage that would lead the league if it belonged to a player for the season.

Detroit has benefited from shooting luck. It’s allowing a low percentage over these 12 games on wide-open 3-pointers, which are, by definition, not guarded. That tends to swing back to the middle over time. But the Pistons also aren’t allowing many corner 3s, which helps. They are communicating on the perimeter better than ever.

The below play from the beatdown of the Celtics is no cakewalk with two dangerous shooters, Kristaps Porziņģis and Payton Pritchard, screening for top-five MVP candidate Jayson Tatum. But look at the communication, urgency and result of the possession:

There is a real chance that Nos. 1 and 2 on some NBA Coach of the Year ballots will be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson and the guy Atkinson replaced, the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff, who is leading one of the league’s feel-good stories. The Pistons couldn’t compete with anyone last season. Now, no one wants to play them.

Something is sunny in Philadelphia

Quentin Grimes’ past week, which has included a 44-point outburst in a rare win over the Golden State Warriors and a 30-point performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, isn’t just about the scoring. He’s getting to the hole in a way he hasn’t before.

The fourth-year guard has been a reliable 3-and-D weapon on competent teams. But the Philadelphia 76ers cannot buy a victory — and perhaps don’t want to, considering they owe a top-six protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. A decrepit squad has turned to its new shooter, whom it acquired for Caleb Martin just before the trade deadline and has averaged 17.7 points, twice his career average, since arriving in Philly.

GO DEEPER

How Quentin Grimes is making the most of another fresh start with the 76ers

For now, though, ignore how many shots are hitting the net. Instead, focus on where they are starting.

Grimes is driving to the basket more than ever, mostly because the injured Sixers have few others who can attack the hoop better than he can. His right-handed scoop layup, which he once used only in transition or after attacking closeouts, is now showing up after pick-and-rolls or while taking defenders on one-on-one.

Only 37 percent of Grimes’ 2-pointers have been assisted since he got to Philadelphia. That number has been between 60 and 77 percent every other season of his career.

For as much as Grimes’ reputation pins him as a Danny Green type, he has a history of handling the basketball. He played point guard in high school. He’s had late-season blowups before, including at the end of his second season, when he averaged 21.9 points over the final nine games of the year for the Knicks.

But 70 percent of his shots were 3-pointers during that stretch. Now, he’s releasing more from inside the arc than from beyond it. It looks different. The question becomes: Is this streak meaningful for Grimes’ future?

Every spring presents a handful of players on tanking teams whose counting stats glow, only for them to revert to their former selves come the following season. But inconsequential basketball in March and April can also show signs of what’s to come for young players. Grimes is 24 and entering his prime.

Is his fate to settle as merely a 3-and-D weapon? Or might he be able to handle more?

(Top photo of Isaiah Stewart: Ron Chenoy / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)