Doc Rivers couldn’t assist however quip.
Requested Sunday in regards to the Knicks’ lack of bench manufacturing, the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coach interjected with a line about Tom Thibodeau’s fame for relying closely on his starters.
“Has Thibs ever played the bench?” Rivers mentioned with fun earlier than his Bucks’ confronted Thibodeau’s Knicks at Madison Sq. Backyard. “I’m joking, I’m joking!”
However Rivers’ remark, whereas made in jest, got here throughout a season through which the Knicks started Sunday ranked lifeless final amongst NBA groups in bench scoring (19.9 factors per sport) and rebounding (9.8 per sport) whereas getting the fewest minutes out of their reserves.
The Knicks entered Sunday’s matinee with a 25-14 document — good for third within the Jap Convention — thanks largely to a superb, and wholesome, beginning 5. However the Knicks had misplaced 4 of 5 video games, together with Friday’s 25-point blowout by the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on the Backyard, highlighting their depth points.
It’s a state of affairs Rivers can relate to.
He recalled teaching the Los Angeles Clippers a number of years in the past on the Backyard and having to lean on Lou Williams, who had gone out within the metropolis the evening earlier than.
“He wanted to come out,” Rivers mentioned. “He said, ‘Coach, I’m not drunk, but I’m hungover.’”
Williams not too long ago informed his model of the story, saying on “The Underground Show” that he was nonetheless drunk at sport time. Rivers, he mentioned, informed him he wanted to sweat out the alcohol in time for the fourth quarter.
Rivers mentioned Sunday, “The truth is I look down [the bench] and I’m thinking, ‘Lou’s our best option.’ That happens at times. It’s tough, but you’ve got to [have] trust, and then we find out a lot of times you just can’t. When that happens, it does limit you. It limits your choices. You have to play guys bigger minutes.”
“If that’s what [the Knicks] are doing, they’re doing it for a reason,” Rivers mentioned. “One thing we know as coaches: We see everybody every day in practice. We know exactly how guys are playing and who you can trust for the most part.”
The Knicks traded two key gamers — ahead Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo — lower than a month earlier than the season to amass star middle Karl-Anthony Cities from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Mitchell Robinson continues to rehab from Might’s ankle surgical procedure, whereas Landry Shamet, Treasured Achiuwa and Miles “Deuce” McBride have all missed time with accidents for various stretches this season.
Final season, the Knicks ranked twenty seventh in bench scoring (28.4 factors per sport) and twenty fourth in rebounding (13.9).
The Knicks beat the Bucks, 116-94, at MSG in November within the groups’ first assembly of the season. Rivers mentioned he had not observed the Knicks doing something in a different way throughout their current skid.
“The ball’s not going in,” Rivers mentioned. “They also have played some pretty good teams. They played Oklahoma [City] twice. That’s probably not healthy for anybody.”
BIG KAT
In that November win towards the Bucks, Cities erupted for 32 factors, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in 32 minutes.
He shot 12-of-20 from the sphere, together with 4-of-8 from 3-point vary, and repeatedly blew previous the extra stationary Brook Lopez — a defensive matchup Rivers described Sunday as a “stupid” one to have assigned.
Cities, 29, entered Sunday averaging 25.2 factors per sport on 55.2% taking pictures and a career-high 13.9 rebounds per sport.
Requested what Cities is doing in a different way in comparison with his 9 seasons with Minnesota, Rivers cited a number of areas of enchancment.
“He’s always rebounded, but it just seems like his rebounding has been spectacular,” Rivers mentioned. “I don’t think he settles as much here. Before [Anthony Edwards], he basically could take every shot and do whatever he wanted, and now I think he feels a responsibility [to] his teammates now.”
“He has really good teammates,” the coach continued. “He has a team that is serious about going deep, and I think he feels that responsibility, so his shot selection is drastically improved and better. And then the last thing, I think he’s taking the ball off the dribble way more than he ever has.”
Initially Revealed: January 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM EST
