New York Knicks News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Image credit: ClutchPoints

Knicks fans point blame at Tom Thibodeau after season-ending Game 7 loss to Pacers

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Jay Postrado | Last updated 5/19/24

Everything came crumbling down for the New York Knicks once the postseason neared. Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Bogdan Bogdanovic all could not contribute to their squad’s NBA Playoffs run. The alums out of Villanova, in effect, had to go all out not just in their execution but also in staying on the floor. Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, and Donte DiVincenzo were all clearly famished when facing the Indiana Pacers. Fans had no one else to blame but Tom Thibodeau.

Knicks faithful blast their HC

Knicks fans are very passionate when it comes to defending their squad. A lot of it is interconnected with the mentality that their city is arguably the best that the world can offer. The fact that stars also come out and show their support further reinforces this notion too. So, whenever they lose badly in the NBA Playoffs, pointing fingers at certain individuals may get out of hand.

A lot of vitriol was thrown toward the Knicks head honcho, “NBA teams will be increasingly driven by injuries in the playoffs because the game is faster and more intense than ever. Now, the best players are incentivized to play more games. Combine that with a maniac like Thibodeau who plays 6 guys 45 minutes a night, and this happens.”

They even went out to expect that the same outcomes are likely going to happen next year, “Spoiler: Thibodeau will play Hart, Brunson and Anunoby 46 mpg in the regular season. While, good role players like Burks are not seeing minutes. Then everyone will get injured in playoffs and NYK fanbase will say they would be champs without injuries. Repeat until Brunson leaves.”

Some members of the Knicks faithful even outlined how this strategy has been a terrible part of their head coaches’ arsenal for a long while, “You would think that Coach Tom Thibodeau would’ve learned a valuable lesson from his time with the Chicago Bulls. No, Thibs is running his best players into the ground. Whereas, they get seriously hurt in the Playoffs still hasn’t changed.”

What happened against the Pacers?

The simple answer? They were famished and could not outgun the Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam-led offense. A lot of it had to do with Coach Tom Thibodeau playing his stars with very heavy minutes. To put it into perspective, four players in the Knicks system played more than 35 minutes per game in this NBA Playoffs run.

Josh Hart led the way by playing all 12 games with 42.6 minutes per contest. The fact that he is also expected to jump out of the gym, outmuscle the Pacers and other big men, and score might be too much. While he also got injured, he still played the series through.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby were also two big Knicks names who got injured in this series. The wing has been a key defender and was trying to get switched onto better players despite playing 40 minutes a game. Jalen Brunson, on the other hand, is the living soul of the Knicks offense. He plays 40.7 minutes while having to shoot 27 field goals per contest.

Donte DiVincenzo is the last player to notch 35 minutes of playing time for the Knicks. He was clearly tired for the series and the Pacers took advantage. All of this allowed their opponents to easily score on them. Rick Carlisle’s squad ran circles on them and knocked down their shots at a historic 67.1% clip from all three levels of scoring.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: