Manager Tom Thibodeau has often noted that most teams will reduce their rotation in the playoffs, but the Knicks lost their last two games against the 76ers after veteran backup Bojan Bogdanovic went down with a foot injury in Game 4. Only seven players were used in the match.
When asked in recent days whether he expects to expand his rotation (possibly adding Precious Achiuwa) starting with Monday’s series opener against the Pacers at The Garden, Thibodeau responded with his usual “we can.” I answered.
Before the series started, Thibodeau said of the Pacers, “We have to look at who they play as well.” “They’ve also gotten closer, so it’s all about competition.”
According to The Ringer, the Knicks played their top seven players (five starters plus Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride) for 94.5 percent of the total minutes in the first round.
That’s the 13th highest percentage among the 400 teams participating in the playoffs since 2000, according to the study, and is higher than the league average of 88 percent so far in this year’s playoffs.
The Knicks’ numbers are also the highest of any NBA team in a playoff year since the 2014 Bulls, also coached by Thibodeau.
In the first-round loss to the Wizards, 95.8 percent of the playing time was given to the top seven players.
However, it’s worth noting that the Nuggets relied on their top seven rotation players about the same percentage (93%) as last year en route to their first NBA Championship in team history.
Veteran guard Alec Burks played just 30.7 percent from the field in 23 games with the Knicks after being traded from the Pistons in February and didn’t play at all against the Sixers.
Still, it would make sense for Achiuwa to see time against the Pacers, as center Myles Turner often plays on the perimeter as a stretch five.
With Robinson out for Game 4 in Philadelphia and Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble, Achiuwa had four blocked shots in 20 minutes but came off the bench for the final two games of the series. There wasn’t.
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Josh Hart played the full 53 minutes in Game 5, and Donte DiVincenzo was on the court for all 48 minutes in the decisive Game 6. Hart (46 minutes), OG Anunoby (45 minutes) and Jalen Brunson also remained for the majority of the game. A shutout victory.
Robinson (18 games) and McBride (9 games) were the only players off the bench in Game 6.
“It sounds like a line, but it’s not.” [matter]” DiVincenzo said. “I think Thisbus does a good job of staggering his timeouts and doing certain things where he sometimes loses track of time.”
Added Hart: “I think the conditioning is fine. We’ve played a full season so our conditioning is good, but we’ve got to make sure we give our bodies as much of an opportunity to function at a high level as possible.”
