Last night was utterly predictable, and I don’t mean the loss
Last night two teams met in a game that meant little to nothing to either. The Cleveland Cavaliers clinched homecourt through the Eastern playoffs a while ago, while the New York Knicks are about five minutes from locking down the third seed. On top of that, the Knicks were without Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride and Cam Payne. If they somehow won, great! Wins are always fun to talk about. If they lost, who cares? They were shorthanded anyway. There was virtually no way the Knicks could “lose” last night, even if they lost.
Chris Herring wrote a great piece (as always) for ESPN today. Not for the first time, Herring dove into the issue of Tom Thibodeau teams and their minutes exertions. Among some of his more compelling findings:
“Should Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart finish first and second in the league in total minutes played [they’re currently #1 and #2], it would be the third time in Thibodeau’s coaching career — 2016-17 and 2020-21 being the others — that two of his players led the NBA in minutes. There have been just two other seasons in the league’s 79-year history where one team had two players leading the NBA in minutes.”
“Some might point to the fact that the Knicks play at one of the NBA’s slowest paces as evidence that the workload isn’t as strenuous as the minute totals might suggest. But New York’s starters might be exerting themselves much more than it appears.
Jalen Brunson, the team’s floor general, has possessed the ball a league-high 8.7 minutes per game this season, and leads the NBA in clutch baskets with 47. Hart, New York’s most physical player, dives on the floor constantly, and has recovered an NBA-high 80 loose balls this season. In sliding over to defend ballhandlers, Bridges has been forced to run through 25 screens per game — a Herculean task, and more than any player in the league’s 12-year-old tracking era. Looking at the teams the Knicks could face in the first round of the playoffs, Bridges this season has run 37 miles more than Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, 41 miles more than Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and 66 miles more than Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, according to NBA tracking data.”
Herring goes on to reference a December win over Charlotte, a game the Knicks led by 20+ for literally the entire second half:
“Hart played 38 minutes, Karl-Anthony Towns 39 and OG Anunoby 40. Bridges, meanwhile, played the game’s first 46 minutes and 30 seconds before finally exiting. Thibodeau . . . cites the fact that he was an assistant with the Houston Rockets in 2004, when Tracy McGrady ignited for 13 points in 35 seconds against the San Antonio Spurs to cap an improbable comeback.
“In this league, no lead is safe. I’ve seen it all,” Thibodeau said last season. “People will tell you, ‘Oh, he needs to get the starters out of there.’ Yeah? Well, I know what experience tells me.”
The Cavs outscored the Knicks by 26 in the second half en route to winning a game they trailed by as many as 15 before leading by as many as 21. That’s a 36-point swing in just about 30 minutes, and yet not one Cavalier played more than 32 minutes. Every Knick starter played at least 33.
More from Herring, who I’m quoting at length in this recap because there’s no point putting his points in my own words when his words are perfect:
“After the Pacers shot a Game 7-record 67% from the field to beat New York [last year], Thibodeau praised his team. ‘Guys gave everything they had … there was nothing left to give,’ he said.
Critics of Thibodeau would likely point out that last year’s injury-filled playoff run was far from an isolated case. The Bulls were consistently plagued by ailments — most famously Derrick Rose’s knee injuries, but also ones to Joakim Noah, Gibson and others — during the Thibodeau era. The Knicks also potentially had their postseason cut short due to injury in 2023, when Randle and Brunson were hampered in the second round against the Miami Heat.
Let’s say the Knicks do wrap up the third seed in the next few days. Does that mean anything? Is Thibodeau going to play his best players any less afterwards? Especially with Brunson returning (maybe this weekend!) from an injury that’s had him out a month and with Mitch still getting his conditioning up to speed.
Bart Simpson once found himself in a remedial class and exclaimed, incredulous, “Lemme get this straight. We’re behind the rest of our class, and we’re going to catch up to them by going slower than they are?” I think that’s how Thibs sees things. The Knicks are behind the Cavs and Celtics in continuity and familiarity. They haven’t been together as long. So maybe in his eyes there only thing that makes sense is playing your best guys as much as you can. Otherwise, what? You’re gonna catch up by going slower?
Quoth BronxBorn1969: “We all knew this was how things would end, right?” Next games are a weekend back-to-back, Saturday in Atlanta and Sunday hosting the pro’ly Kevin Durant-less Suns, one play-in lowlife and one lowlife wanna-be. Mitch should be back for the Hawks game, while Brunson, McBride and Payne are all expected to return sooner than later. As for who the Knicks may lose in the process, we’ll have to wait and see. Or maybe they could just sign McGrady, the one-time Knick, out of retirement. Maybe seeing T-Mac on his side would get Thibs to finally chill the eff out.