The New York Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 112-110 during Wednesday’s NBA action. The Bucks exacted some revenge, as the Knicks came back from a 21-point deficit to win by 15 last week in Milwaukee.
While the outcome was a disappointing one for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, there was one positive; the performance of the bench. New York came into the season with one of the deepest teams in the league, as they could go two or three deep across the board. That second unit has not yet disappointed.
While they were unable to complete the comeback Wednesday, they certainly gave it their all. The five-man group of Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, and Taj Gibson deserve all the credit for getting New York back into the game.
Rose and Burks subbed into the game with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter. Quickley entered at the 5:52 mark, followed by Gibson with 4:28. Toppin entered the game with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter and that would be the last substitution that Tom Thibodeau would make in the game.
Thibodeau rode the hot hands and it almost resulted in another incredible come from behind victory. The Knicks erased a 24-point deficit and tied the game with 5:06 remaining. But as Clyde Frazier always points out, tying the game is not enough. You need to take the lead to swing momentum in your favor and the Knicks were unable to do that.
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That would be the closest New York got, as the Bucks had a 3-point barrage begin after that. Milwaukee knocked down 7-of-8 3-pointers to close the game and bury the Knicks, leaving the comeback attempt to fall short.
While the team didn’t get the win, that second unit deserves a lot of credit for fighting back. The entire team looked defeated in the third quarter, but they brought the energy as they have been all season. Madison Square Garden turned electric and the players fed off of that.
Tom Thibodeau sticks to his rotations, and it has been relatively successful as the team is 7-5 thus far this season. But that grouping has made a case to play more minutes together. They’re doing a disservice not using them more, as they are the best five-man grouping in the NBA that has played at least 50 minutes together.
The +19.9 points per 100 possessions are what is aiding the Knicks in winning seven games thus far. The bench unit is making up for the starters (Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson) who have a -14.4 points differential in 205 minutes together.
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People will clamor for changes to the lineups, but it would make no sense to break up a group playing as well as the Knicks’ second unit is. They provide the team with a huge advantage any time they check into the game.
Thibodeau has to figure out how to get the starting five clicking in the same way. Could they play fewer minutes per game, allowing him to ride the bench a little more? That is certainly a possibility, as all of the players coming off the bench have earned significant roles in this rotation.
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Coaching is not easy, but that is what Thibodeau is paid the big bucks for. His life would be made a little easier if the second unit is being mixed in for more minutes as the season goes on.
