Kevin Garnett: Karl-Anthony Towns or Jalen Brunson should talk to Tom Thibodeau about playing fewer minutes

The conversation about Thibodeau turned into a story from their time together in Boston, when the current Knicks coach was a Celtics assistant helping guide the franchise to the 2008 championship. Garnett got into an argument with Thibodeau, who the power forward believed was pushing the players too hard in a drill. Garnett went for the deep cut by telling Thibodeau, “You’re never going to be a head coach,” and, according to Pierce, “It was like two alphas standing up right there and I was like, ‘Thibs ain’t backing down, I know Ticket ain’t backing down.’ But he’s stubborn though sometimes. I think he gets stubborn. “He’s a great coach, don’t put nothing in that way,” Pierce added. “But sometimes he gets stuck in his ways and is stubborn.” -via New York Post / January 17, 2025

Two of the top players Tom Thibodeau ever coached – and the two players probably most responsible for his NBA championship – believe he’s being “stubborn” with his minutes distribution and it’s going to cost the Knicks in the playoffs. “At some point, you got staff, you got assistants, you got a GM, you got presidents (who should tell Thibodeau to stop playing the starters so much),” Kevin Garnett said on his podcast, “Ticket & The Truth,” co-hosted by Paul Pierce. “And, it’s a data league, bro. Data is probably telling you, ‘Hey, the starting 5 is playing way more minutes than the average starting 5 in the league. So I’m sure he’s heard this. It goes back to what Paul just said – (Thibodeau) is so stuck in his ways and he knows how to win one way, man.” -via New York Post / January 17, 2025

You know they talk about pure hoopers and skill. If you had to draft a starting five, with guys like Jamal and yourself, who would you pick? Pure hoopers—how many players? Five hoopers, is that what you’re saying? KEVIN DURANT: I’m going to leave out a lot of dudes, but if I had to pick five off the top—because you’re just putting me on the spot like that—I’mma go: Kyrie Irving at the one. It’s a debate between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan at the two. I know you’re from Chicago, so you might hear this and get confused, but purely skill-wise—Kobe. Yeah, Kobe. He’s got that three-ball, he can handle, he’s got the wiggle, and he can do all the technical stuff MJ can do. So, it’s a toss-up, but I’mma go with Kobe at the two. Alright, for the three, I’mma go Melo—no, actually, I’mma go T-Mac. Yeah, T-Mac at my three. T-Mac at the three, for sure. I’ll have to play the four since it’s my team. And at the five, I’mma go KG. I think KG is underrated, man. Too underrated. He’s just so underrated. -via YouTube / January 16, 2025

It hasn’t been any easier for the 21-19 Timberwolves to incorporate Randle, in particular, during what has been a frustrating first half of the season. “No doubt about it, it’s been definitely a work in progress,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Having a chemistry with Rudy is one piece all to itself. How do we [handle] that spacing when neither of ’em have the ball, spacing when one of ’em has the ball? Now we’re trying to put them in actions together a little bit more. So that’s kind of going to take some time. “We’ve seen that with KAT in our first year and also in [Randle] establishing a chemistry with Ant as well and how to get those guys to use each other to their best benefit. And it’s not been seamless, to be honest with you. And sometimes when the three of ’em are on the floor, it’s been really clunky. -via ESPN / January 17, 2025

And the Knicks are crossing their fingers hoping that Towns is healthy. He suffered a sprained right thumb with a bone chip Monday against Detroit, an injury that sidelined him Wednesday in Philadelphia. League sources have indicated that the bone chip is not serious enough to sideline him — and the 43 minutes he played Monday despite suffering the injury in the first quarter back that up — and that the swelling from the sprain is the issue. -via Newsday / January 17, 2025

As The Post reported, tests on Towns’ thumb uncovered a bone chip along with a sprain. Per a source, surgery was deemed unnecessary, and the plan is for Towns to return once the swelling subsides. -via New York Post / January 16, 2025

To insinuate that he’s a product of his environment would be unfair. On many nights, he’s the one pumping life into it. “He impacts the game, man,” Philadelphia guard Tyrese Maxey said of Hart. “I had no clue he had a triple-double, like not even a little bit. Now that I’m looking at the stat sheet, he had 17 rebounds. No one else on their team had double-digit rebounds. …When you get the ball out of Jalen Brunson’s hands, and it goes to (Hart), he’s going to make the right play almost every single time. He’s difficult. He’s difficult to cover, especially when you have that type of team and type of shooting around it. “He does a really good of, when he gets rebounds, pushing the pace. You’re so worried about Jalen Brunson, so worried about Mikal (Bridges), so worried about OG (Anunoby) and, when he’s playing, (Karl-Anthony Towns) because they can shoot so (Hart) can punch gaps and get layups. Then as soon as you start helping off the other guys, he’s making the right reads.” -via New York Times / January 16, 2025

Tim Bontemps: Final: Knicks 125, 76ers 119 Jalen Brunson finishes with 38 points as the Knicks escape with an overtime victory over the 76ers, who have now lost four in a row. Tyrese Maxey had 33 for Philly, which now heads to Indiana, Milwaukee and Denver on a 3-game trip. -via x.com / January 15, 2025

StatMuse: Jalen Brunson tonight: 31 PTS 11 AST Passes Walt Frazier for the most 30/10a games in Knicks franchise history. pic.x.com/AgmPcfJE6R -via Twitter @statmuse / January 13, 2025