Tom Thibodeau made a rotation change in Saturday’s 105-93 win over the Nets, replacing Precious Achiuwa with Jericho Sims as backup center.
The coach said the tactic relied on a need for strength, which is probably no coincidence after the Knicks were bullied and outrebounded by the Nuggets two days earlier.
“I thought what we needed was physicality,” Thibodeau said. “And that’s the only reason we did what we did.”
Although Sims did not score, he showed his strength on defense, especially in the second half. He grabbed seven rebounds in 18 minutes and the Knicks won the battle on the boards 47-41.
Achiuwa logged a lot of minutes in February and parts of March, but eight minutes was his limit. This was the shortest stint since January 17th.
“No matter who’s in charge, that’s where we’re going,” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes it’s not your night, it’s someone else’s night, but then you put the team first. Everybody’s making sacrifices. And that’s what we’ve been doing all year. This is what I have actually done through this process.”
Last time OG Anunoby was injured, Achiuwa started at power forward. This time, Thibodeau moved Josh Hart to power forward and started Myles McBride, as Anunoby is dealing with a “recurrence” of his surgically repaired elbow.
The Knicks are 2-1 with this configuration, but Thibodeau said that’s based on opponents having strong perimeter threats.
“I have a lot of confidence in Precious,” Thibodeau said.
“He’s done a great job for us. I like the fact that he can play two positions. I think he can defend multiple positions. This allows for a lot of switching. So, it was more of a matchup of who are we watching in the Golden State game? We’re looking at Curry (we need McBride to be in the lineup to chase him). In Brooklyn, you’re going to be looking at Cam Thomas who keeps rolling.”
On Saturday, McBride helped hold Thomas to 19 points with five turnovers. The Nets were minus-29 with Thomas on the court, but McBride didn’t leave the court for 48 minutes.
Julius Randle was sweating again before the game, shooting and sprinting with his trainer as he tries to recover from a dislocated shoulder.
He hasn’t contacted me yet.
Mitchell Robinson, who returned to full practice following ankle surgery, also warmed up with assistant coach Ocella Harrington.
However, Anunoby was not on the MSG court before tipoff or in the locker room, where media was allowed access.
Thibodeau said in his pregame press conference that he didn’t know if Anunoby would be able to practice.
“It’s hard to say,” Thibodeau said. “I haven’t seen him. He’s getting better, so he should calm down and go from there.”
