Despite the New York Knicks reaching the second round of the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2000, the team appears to have run out of gas, with plenty of players picking up injuries. While Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic were already ruled out of the season, Jalen Brunson's latest injury woes raised skepticism around coach Tom Thibodeau ’s approach of pressurizing his marquee players with extensively heavy minutes.
Giving more light on this topic, Bill Simmons emphasized just why Thibodeau’s heavy reliance on some players isn’t a sustainable long-term strategy for success.
"Listen, OG Anunoby missed 120 games in the last four years. This is not somebody who's meant to play 40 minutes a game every other night. This is not Cal Ripken. I'm not saying he shouldn't do it," Simmons said on his podcast .
"I'm just saying if you're gonna roll the dice and be like, 'This is our only choice to win - Brunson's gotta play 43-45 minutes game. Hart's gotta never come out. And I need 40-plus minutes for Anunoby.' The odds guys being healthy for a month and a half are slim… this is just not sustainable," Bill added.
NY is falling short of bodies
The Knicks’ playoff journey has been defined by close games, with nine of their ten postseason matchups decided by 11 points or fewer. Moreover, five of those games have ended with a five-point margin or lower, underscoring the team’s knack for stretching the game until the very end before sealing a win.
Additionally, with several key players unavailable due to injuries, Thibodeau has had no choice but to lean heavily on the remaining players, such as Josh Hart, who is logging an average of 40.7 minutes per game in this series, and Donte DiVincenzo, who is averaging 40.8 minutes per contest in the second round. While it’s easy to criticize the Knicks’ head coach, the question remains—what alternatives does he really have?
More impressively, even during such challenging times, Thibs has managed to dig deeper into his bench to hand key responsibilities to seldom-used players. Alec Burks, who started just one game in the regular season for the Knicks, went on to drop a team-high 20 points in Game 4 against the Pacers. Similarly, Precious Achiuwa, who played just two games in the first round against the 76ers, has gone on to feature in the starting lineup in Games 3 and 4 against Indiana.
New York needs Hart, Divincenzo, and Brunson to heat up
As Rick Carlisle’s Pacers have clinched victories in both previous games of the series, the onus falls on Josh, Donte, and Jaleb to guide the team to a win. While Hartenstein can capitalize on second-chance scoring opportunities, Burks and McBride must maintain consistency and add some firepower to compensate for the absence of Anunoby.
While analysts could point fingers at Tom’s strategy, don’t expect anything different in Game 5. After all, this has been a trend from all Thibs' teams, from the Bulls to the Wolves.
Related: Stephen A. Smith questions how much longer can the Knicks hold up: "You have to wonder when that level of attrition is going to kick in"
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