CHICAGO — If it’s not a minutes distribution drawback, it’s a depth drawback.
And both manner, the difficulty was on full show Friday evening in Oklahoma Metropolis — not solely as a result of the Knicks have been overwhelmed down the stretch, however due to the stark distinction to the opponent.
The Thunder, the NBA’s hottest staff, went 10 deep with their rotation and the bench scored 44 factors.
The Knicks, in the meantime, used simply eight gamers and managed simply 5 factors from their reserves.
Each Knicks starter logged at the very least 40 minutes within the 117-107 loss to the Thunder — the primary time that’s occurred for the franchise within the common season since 2013.
When coach Tom Thibodeau noticed his lead dwindle from eight factors to 2, he known as a timeout three minutes into the fourth quarter, reinserted the starters, and rode them the remainder of the sport.
“Obviously, we had an eight-point lead going into the fourth. And we know the intensity of the fourth quarter is different. And we’ve got to be ready for that. And we fell short tonight,” Thibodeau mentioned. “And our bench is capable, more than capable. And our starters are more than capable. So we win together, we lose together. And then we just have to refocus and fix what we need to fix.”
A lot of that is predictable and well-documented.
The Knicks exhausted so many assets constructing an elite beginning lineup, they have been left cobbling collectively a bench from second-round rookies, Treasured Achiuwa’s Chook Rights and nil cap house.
The upside is the starters are producing even higher than anticipated, hastening their cohesion by logging a lot time collectively on the court docket.
No different five-man lineup within the NBA is even near the minutes of the Knicks starters.
Additionally they personal a plus-5.5 internet ranking.
The draw back is the Knicks aren’t constructed to face up to accidents — just like the strained hamstring to Miles McBride that saved him out of Friday’s loss.
The Thibodeau detractors, armed with stopwatches to chart taking part in occasions, can level to 4 Knicks being within the prime 6 of the NBA’s complete minutes.
However the actuality is the unused Knicks gamers Friday evening have been two second-round picks (Tyler Kolek and Jericho Sims), an in-season journeyman pickup (Matt Ryan) and an undrafted signee (Jacob Toppin).
Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder middle, has been on either side of Friday’s showdown.
He needed to dispel the notion that Thibodeau overworks his gamers.
“A lot of people think with Thibs, you’re practicing every day. You’re not doing that. Most of the time, especially if you’re playing a lot in games, you’re getting off most of the days,” Hartenstein mentioned. “So I feel he’s altering in that side.
“Yeah, he’s going to play you a lot in games. But you’re going to get your off days. [Thunder coach Mark Daigneault] is different in that aspect. But we also have a deeper team. So he has the luxury of playing 10 guys.”
The influence of drained legs is difficult to quantify and there have been different causes the Knicks misplaced to the Thunder. The obvious is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a bonafide MVP candidate and picked them aside.
One other is that they deserted Karl-Anthony Cities within the fourth quarter — he took simply two pictures — as Jalen Brunson pressured the difficulty and dedicated a pair of pricey turnovers.
But additionally, the Thunder have been deeper than the Knicks and more energizing down the stretch.
It’s the one drawback you may wager they’ll take into different matchups this season towards prime groups.
Not that the gamers will complain concerning the load.
“At the end of the day, it don’t matter. Fourth quarter you have to go out there and win the game,” Josh Hart mentioned after his game-high 44 minutes at OKC. “At that point it’s just competitiveness and adrenaline pushing you through, so I’ve always said I want to be out there as much as I can. At that point, we’ve got to make sure we execute.”
