Mikal Bridges has a wild resolution designed to stop the Knicks from overworking their starters.
Play the bench extra minutes — and he’s relayed the message to the top coach.
Bridges advised reporters in Portland forward of tipoff towards the Path Blazers on Wednesday he requested Tom Thibodeau to cut back the Knicks starters’ minutes, citing a bench he believes may also help the workforce win video games if trusted with a better workload.
Bridges, who has by no means missed an NBA or collegiate sport in his basketball profession and at present leads the league in minutes performed this season, mentioned maintaining the starters’ our bodies recent may also help late-game protection.
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body. You’ll want that as a coach but also talked to him a little bit knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48 [minutes], 47,” he mentioned, based on The Put up. “We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there.”
Thibodeau has a repute for sporting his finest gamers down by taking part in them heavy regular-season minutes. Former Knicks ahead Channing Frye levied that declare in an look on NBA TV, the place he blamed the Knicks coach for the workforce’s accidents.
Jalen Brunson is the one Knicks participant on the damage report coming into Wednesday’s matchup towards the Path Blazers.
Bridges mentioned Thibodeau acquired his message.
“I think he’s not arguing about it. Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways and he gets locked in. He just wants to keep the guy out there,” he advised reporters. “Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, like Landry (Shamet), for example or somebody, keep him out there, they’re playing well.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Knicks lead the NBA in minutes performed by starters — and it’s not shut.
Bridges (2,419.8) and Josh Hart (2,307) led the league as the one gamers to log greater than 2,300 minutes this season. Jalen Brunson nonetheless ranked tenth in minutes regardless of lacking the final two video games with a sprained proper ankle. OG Anunoby additionally ranked 18th in minutes, and when Cities logs three minutes towards the Path Blazers, all 5 Knicks starters could have logged 2,000 or extra minutes this season.
“I think it’s something you never really get used to,” Bridges mentioned of his workload. “Your body is going to feel how it is every year. But I’ve been a part of it for a while, knowing how to take care of my body through those situations and just trying to do as much as I can.”
But the brand new meta amongst legit NBA contenders has turn out to be balanced minutes distribution courtesy of high quality bench depth.
Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley lead the East’s No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in minutes, for instance, but not one of the trio averages greater than Mitchell’s 31.3 minutes per sport this season.
In Oklahoma Metropolis, All-Stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylen Williams log heavier workloads, however they’re simply two of 12 gamers averaging 14 or extra minutes per sport at head coach Mark Daigneault’s disposal.
And the reigning champion Boston Celtics play Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White heavy minutes, however Joe Mazzulla leans on Payton Pritchard, Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta off the bench.
All 5 have appeared in a minimum of 50 video games for Boston this season.
But the Knicks’ bench runs 4 gamers deep: Miles McBride, now beginning for the injured Brunson; Mitchell Robinson, nonetheless gathering himself after 10 months out recovering from ankle surgical procedure; Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet. Treasured Achiuwa has seen a diminished position after Robinson’s return to motion.
The Knicks rank dead-last in bench scoring by a 4.2-point margin, the widest discrepancy of any two groups. Coincidentally, the Knicks additionally rank final in bench minutes per sport, additionally by the widest margin between any two groups.
But on Monday in Sacramento, Shamet scored 13 factors in 24 minutes, and Robinson was a whopping plus-26 in 16 minutes. Each helped open up a blowout victory over the Kings.
Bridges is just not the primary participant to counsel the Knicks’ bench play extra minutes, although he’s the primary to method Thibodeau on the topic.
After the Knicks hung 143 factors in a Jan. 28 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies, All-Star heart Karl-Anthony Cities mentioned if the starters did their jobs and constructed large leads, the bench would reap the advantages with extra minutes to indicate they belong on the ground.
“These guys work so hard in this locker room, and they get a chance to show their skills in front of their fans, in front of the most famous arena in the world and having the chance to show the work they put in every day and the professionalism that they show to us every single day,” Cities mentioned. “I just think more about that if we do our job, we give our teammates a chance to show what they can do and produce for their families.”
