Games are won and lost in the 4th quarter, so who the NY Knicks trot out at the end of games will be crucial for their success.
Last season, the team generally deployed a lineup of Elfrid Payton, Reggie Bullock, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson (when healthy).
The Knicks were able to perform well due to their ability to just out-work the competition as well as most other teams being simply out-coached by Tom Thibodeau.
This season, the Knicks are chock-full of new faces who are substantially more talented than some of the departing players from last year.
That said, figuring out how exactly to allocate the minutes should figure to be a tall task for Coach Thibs.
Who will the NY Knicks use as their closers this season?
After last night’s commanding 125-104 victory over the Pacers, it’s pretty evident that the Knicks are gunning for a top seed again this year, and the fanbase is overreacting as per usual.
While they should have some easier victories here and there compared to last season, having a solid group closing out the close ones can be the difference between repeating as the 4th seed or dropping down to the 6th or 7th.
With a team that’s got a nice balance between young, talented up-and-comers mixed in with some savvy veterans who’ve been around the game for 10+ seasons, there’s a number of different combinations Thibs will have to choose from.
The guys over at KnicksFanTv had this same conversation just the other day so I figured I’d jump on board and give my takes as well.
I’ll go into some statistical analysis as to why I think the 5 players I’ve chosen will be the guys to close out games, but ultimately, I’ll primarily just be using the eye test.
Here are the 5 players I believe will be a part of the Knicks’ closing lineup this season.