Alright, so like, the New York Knicks have this starting five that Tom Thibodeau is like super obsessed with. I mean, seriously, this guy just can’t let go of his best players. The group of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns have been on the court for, like, 940 minutes during the regular season. And get this, no other lineup has even come close to playing that much. It’s kinda Thibodeau’s thing, you know? He just loves sticking with his starters no matter what. And like, this loyalty to his starting five might just cost him a trip to the NBA Finals.
The Knicks have been all over the place in the playoffs, except for one thing – their starters are just not cutting it. Out of all the lineups they’ve thrown out there, only a few have a positive point-differential. But guess which group is dragging them down? Yep, you guessed it, the starters. They’ve played 308 minutes in the postseason and have been outscored by a whopping 50 points. And like, statistically speaking, that’s just not supposed to happen. I mean, the last time a lineup did this bad was back in 2020 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, yeah, it’s not looking too good for the Knicks.
Thibodeau really needs to rethink his strategy here. I mean, the starters are just not getting the job done, and it’s pretty clear to everyone – except maybe him. Maybe it’s time to switch things up a bit, you know? Give some other guys a chance to shine. The Knicks are down 2-0 in the series, and if they wanna turn things around, they’re gonna have to make some changes. It’s like they say, you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
