Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man Knicks rotation has been working to perfection
Capping off their sixth win in a row, the Knicks defeated the Chicago Bulls, 114-91, on Friday night. This was a very fun game to watch as a fan of the Knicks, however, I can only imagine how Bulls fans feel after not only losing to the Knicks twice in a row but only having won just two of their last eight games.
The starters really showed out this game, scoring 96 of the team’s 114 points. Considering how up and down the lineup has been all season, you have to be happy to see them finally come together to take down a pesky team like the Bulls.
Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, and Knicks starters show out against Bulls
This was a monster game from Jalen Brunson, who dropped 22 points, six assists, and three steals while shooting 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from three, a new career high. The only issue with Brunson’s game this season has been the lack of a consistent three-point shot, so it was nice to not only see him succeed from behind the arc but to drop a career-high from there is just flat-out incredible.
As criticized as the Knicks were for signing Brunson, I think it’s safe to say it has paid off. Brunson has been the Knicks’ most important player all season long and has done things fans have not seen from the point guard position in decades.
Another bright spot from this game came from Brunson’s backcourt partner, Quentin Grimes, who had 22 points, two rebounds, and two assists while shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-9 from three. Grimes has looked nothing short of incredible since returning from injury. While his threes have not been falling like we would like them to, he is doing everything else at a great level.
RJ Barrett had himself a very solid game despite a slow start, finishing with 27 points, four rebounds, and two assists while shooting 9-of-20 from the field and 5-of-9 from three. Barrett did leave some points at the free throw line this game, only hitting six of his eleven attempts, but we’ll take the good with the bad.
Barrett has looked very solid in the Knicks’ last 10 games, averaging 20.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 44.2% from the field and 37.9% from three on 5.3 attempts per game. We’d like to see the efficiency numbers be a bit better, but considering how poorly Barrett was playing earlier in the season, we’ll take it.
Julius Randle did not look as good as he did in his four outings tonight, but he was not the worst. In this game, he scored 19 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, but shot 6-of-16 from the field and 2-of-8 from three. Randle’s shots simply didn’t fall this game, which is unfortunate, but when the rest of the starting lineup picks up the slack, you can’t be too upset.
Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation has been working to perfection so far
I’ve got to give Tom Thibodeau props for this, as at first, I wasn’t a fan of cutting Cam Reddish out of the rotation, but so far, it has been working tremendously for the Knicks. While the bench hasn’t contributed a crazy amount in the games since Thibodeau enacted the new rotation, they have been getting the job done and the team has reaped the benefits.
If the Knicks keep this level of winning up, this change could very well save Thibodeau’s job. While a good portion of the Knicks’ success has more to do with the increasingly consistent play from the starters than the simple rotation change, it is still nice to see Thibs be a little less stubborn and finally change something about his game plan.
The Knicks face off against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, Dec. 18, and could very easily win their seventh game in a row. The Pacers have some incredible talent, however, with how well the Knicks have played as of late, this could be a relatively easy win for New York.
