A couple of month earlier than Wednesday’s season opener, new Knicks head coach Mike Brown detailed how deep he likes to go together with his rotation.
“If you look at what I’ve done in the past, it’s usually 9 ½ to 10 guys,” Brown stated on Sept. 23. “I try to play as many guys as I can.”
It seems Brown was underselling himself only a bit.
Brown used 11 gamers within the Knicks’ 119-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Sq. Backyard on Wednesday night time — they usually all performed throughout the recreation’s first 13 minutes.
Ten of them performed a minimum of 12 minutes. No person performed greater than OG Anunoby’s 38.
And that was on an evening the Knicks have been with out two key gamers in guard Josh Hart (lumbar spasms) and heart Mitchell Robinson (left ankle harm administration).
It was a far cry from final season, when Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks led the NBA in starter minutes, and thus ranked lifeless final in bench minutes.
Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Cities and Ariel Hukporti began Wednesday’s recreation.
Guerschon Yabusele was the primary off the bench, coming in on the 7:27 mark of the primary quarter after Cities was known as for his second foul.
Miles “Deuce” McBride, Trey Jemison III and Landry Shamet all performed within the first quarter, too, whereas Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek have been on the ground to start the second.
Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 factors and 14 rebounds, whereas Brunson completed with 23 factors on 5-of-18 taking pictures in 34 minutes.
Bridges performed 33 minutes, whereas Cities — who performed by a proper quad pressure — scored 19 factors with 11 rebounds in 31 minutes.
McBride led the reserves with 15 factors in 26 minutes. Clarkson scored 4 factors on 2-of-7 taking pictures in 13 minutes, whereas Yabusele didn’t rating and corralled one rebound in 12 minutes.
Thibodeau’s reliance on his starters was a frequent speaking level throughout his five-year tenure because the Knicks’ head coach, and by no means extra so than final season.
Bridges led the NBA by totaling 3,036.1 minutes, and Hart ranked second with 2,896.8. Bridges, Hart and Anunoby all ranked throughout the prime six amongst NBA gamers in minutes per recreation, whereas Brunson and Cities completed throughout the prime 25, too. All 5 averaged a minimum of 35.0 minutes per recreation.
For almost all of the postseason, solely Robinson and McBride performed significant minutes off of the bench.
Revamping that bench was a serious precedence for the Knicks, who added Clarkson, Yabusele and Malcolm Brogdon, the latter of whom retired final week in a shock choice.
Brogdon’s sudden retirement left a void at reserve level guard, which Kolek stuffed by enjoying 14 minutes — and scoring seven factors with two assists — with Brunson on the bench.
Kolek, a second-round choose in 2024, averaged solely 7.2 minutes per recreation over 41 appearances as a rookie final season.
Brunson performed the total first quarter earlier than sitting for six minutes within the second, three minutes within the third and 4 ½ minutes to start the fourth.
Brown incessantly staggered Brunson and Cities’ minutes. He performed Cities throughout Brunson’s stints on the bench to start out the second and fourth quarters, then subbed Cities out as Brunson returned on the 7:30 mark of the fourth.
Cities then changed Hukporti with 4:47 left in regulation, and he and Brunson completed out the sport collectively.
Hukporti, a second-year heart, began with Robinson and Hart unavailable and gave the Knicks two factors, 5 rebounds and a block in 18 minutes.
After averaging 8.7 minutes per recreation in 25 appearances as a rookie, the 7-foot Hukporti might fill a bigger position this season, particularly because the Knicks handle Robinson’s minutes after he underwent a pair of left ankle surgical procedures between December 2023 and Could 2024.
“The biggest thing is trying to make sure you watch everybody’s minutes instead of trying to chase games,” Brown stated later in September through the Knicks’ journey to Abu Dhabi.
“There might be some games where maybe you throw the towel in early. It’s important to win, but you also have to understand, ‘Hey, I want to keep this guy’s minutes here, this guy’s minutes here, this guy’s minutes here,’ instead of trying to extend everybody’s minutes. Because the season is long, and we don’t want anybody worn out by the end.”
