INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a brand new beginning 5 in orange and blue.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was his typical, tight-lipped self when requested pregame whether or not he’d shake up the lineup with New York trailing 0-2 within the Jap Convention Finals.
“We could,” he stated flatly.
Seems, they did.
Thirty minutes earlier than tipoff, the Knicks introduced the transfer they hope can stabilize the sequence and maintain their championship aspirations alive. Josh Hart, who has began each sport of this postseason run, moved to the bench. Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks’ most impactful participant by way of Video games 1 and a pair of, took his place within the beginning 5.
The swap provides the Knicks extra rim safety and rebounding from the bounce — and pairs Robinson with Karl-Anthony Cities in a twin-tower alignment paying homage to the components Minnesota used with Cities and Rudy Gobert earlier than buying and selling the previous to New York within the Julius Randle deal.
“Yeah the rebounding gets even harder,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle stated of New York’s new entrance line forward of tipoff on Sunday. “It’s hard to start with, but you have two seven-foot guys in there, and Towns is a great rebounder, too. And then you have Towns’ spacing and then Robinson’s rebounding, and it creates a lot of challenges.”
The Recreation 3 starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Cities, and Robinson. A bunch constructed for defensive management — and for maintaining with Indiana’s tempo and talent to place strain on the rim with second and third offensive actions.
“He’s a rebounding machine. He’s just physical, he has great hands and he just goes every single time,” stated Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle forward of Recreation 3. “He just has a great presence in there. It’s almost impossible for one person to block him out. So it’s a team thing and very difficult.”
Thibodeau, in the meantime, downplayed the significance of who begins. For him, it’s about groupings — mixtures — not simply the opening 5.
“Every player has different strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes you look at the impact one may have on one particular unit. But also there’s a trickle down because there’s other things you have to factor in. How does [changing the starters] impact the second group? I never really look at the starting lineups per se, I look at the groupings,” he stated pregame. “And you’re mixing and matching, also, to try to take advantage of what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are. To try to get the most out of the team. Oftentimes there could be a player that comes off the bench that’s playing starter’s minutes and a guy who starts who’s playing bench minutes. So you mix and match.”
Hours forward of tipoff, after Sunday morning shootaround, Hart embraced the concept of a possible change.
“I’ve been the 15th man, I’ve been the third man, I’ve been the sixth man, I’ve been whatever. I truly feel like I’m a starter in the league. I think I played amazing this year. So, if he does [bench me for Robinson], cool. I can’t sit here and preach about sacrifice and getting out of our own personal agendas, and then a decision like that is made, and then be mad at it and not want to sacrifice and do that. That’s not the person I am,” he stated after Sunday morning shootaround. “If Thibs does that — and I don’t know if he is or isn’t — I’m all for it. I’m going to play my game, my minutes, my style, no matter if I’m coming off the bench or starting.”
The numbers again the choice. Robinson was a plus-six in 29 minutes off the bench in Recreation 2, logging six factors, 9 rebounds, and three blocks. Hart, in contrast, had six factors and 6 rebounds in his worst efficiency of the postseason — and the Knicks had been outscored by 10 throughout his 29 minutes.
“I don’t know. I mean it was one game. The game before that I think I had a good game and they went on that 14-0 or 16-0 run. If we won that game we would be happy. Outcome wasn’t what we wanted. The last game I didn’t play well. I don’t hang my hat on scoring and those kind of things. I think my energy wasn’t where it should have been. But, for me, there’s going to be highs and lows and that’s kind of how I go. I’m not too worried about it. Whenever I have a bad game, I usually come around and have a good game at some point. Hopefully that point is today.”
The lineup change didn’t come out of nowhere. The Knicks’ opening 5 of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Cities, and Anunoby had been outscored by 50 factors throughout 13 playoff video games, together with a minus-29 internet score in Video games 1 and a pair of in opposition to Indiana.
Hart is aware of the workforce wants extra than simply tactical tweaks. They want fireplace. Urgency. Desperation.
“I think we need something drastic in terms of our energy and effort, our competitiveness,” Hart stated. “Just every game of a playoff series the intensity has to pick up. You can’t have any lapses, especially to start the game and you allow a team like [the Pacers], who is extremely talented offensively to get comfortable. I think that’s the biggest drastic thing we can do is have that energy change.”
Initially Printed: Could 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM EDT
