For a third straight game, the New York Knicks looked flat, tired, and, at times, outmatched.
Against a shorthanded Orlando Magic team that was missing Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Franz and Mo Wagner, and Gary Harris, the Knicks limped to a 103-94 loss, and their star players’ workload once again is back in the spotlight.
“We can say that [tired legs played a part in the loss], but it’s not an excuse of why we lost tonight,” Brunson said. “We don’t say we were tired. That’s not who we are.”
They do not need to say it, though. The numbers do all the talking.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau continues to rely solely on his starting unit with a rotation off the bench that is simply non-existent. Mikal Bridges (1,450.5), Josh Hart (1,357.9), and OG Anunoby (1,348.9) have played the most minutes of anyone in the NBA this season. The No. 4 man on this list, Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, is 43 minutes behind Anunoby.
Brunson ranks seventh on the minutes-played list, while Karl-Anthony Towns, who sat out Monday night, is No. 18. That puts the entire Knicks’ starting five within the NBA’s 20 most heavily utilized players.
Given Thibodeau’s lack of trust elsewhere on the roster, the Knicks’ bench is averaging just 11.9 minutes per game, which ranks dead last in the league and nearly three minutes fewer than the Kings, who have the second-fewest bench minutes this season. The issue is quickly becoming the worst-kept secret in the NBA, as the Magic told Kristian Winfield of the Daily News exactly how they exploited Thibodeau’s thin rotation.
It does not help that injuries have kept Thibodeau’s most reliable bench pieces out of the picture. Forward Precious Achiuwa has been limited to 16 games this season while point guard Miles McBride is dealing with a left hamstring strain that has kept him out of the rotation since New Year’s Day.
Landry Shamet is working his way back into a groove after a shoulder injury held him out for the majority of the first two months of the season, and center Mitchell Robinson’s return should come sooner rather than later.
Consider these major reinforcements that should alleviate some of the ridiculous minutes that New York’s starters are putting up. It feels like the only way they will be able to make it through the season in one piece, with expectations of a deep playoff run looming over them.
