Did someone say that Thomas Joseph Thibodeau Jr. was stubborn? Would you believe me if I said that Thibodeau kept a struggling Julius Randle sidelined for the entirety of the fourth quarter in a playoff game? For New York Knicks fans, it was a dream come true.
Randle was visibly hurting the Knicks on both ends of the court, forcing bad jumpers and not rotating on defense. It was part of the reason why the Cavaliers were able to claw back into the game in the third quarter after being down by nine at the half. Knicks fans were growing more and more frustrated as Randle’s body language made it look like he didn’t want to be on the floor at all.
He finished with only seven points (3-of-10 from the floor, 0-of-4 from three), two rebounds, and one assist in 27 minutes. Randle didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter, but his body language on the bench was better than it was on the floor as he was cheering his teammates on.
After the game, Thibodeau hinted that Randle wasn’t at 100 percent, but the media didn’t get a chance to hear from Randle himself as he left without talking to reporters.
Tom Thibodeau making it sound like Randle is not all the way back physically right now: "Julius is our horse. He's given us everything that he has. A lot of guys probably wouldn't even be playing, so I knew the quick turnaround would probably impact him more than most players."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 23, 2023
Tom Thibodeau benches Julius Randle for entire fourth quarter in pivotal playoff game
It’s hard to know what exactly is going on with Julius Randle. He sprained his ankle at the end of the regular season and was sidelined for two weeks before returning in time for Game 1. In Game 2, he took a hard fall at the end of a blowout loss for the Knicks but said afterward that he was fine. He wasn’t on the injury report ahead of Game 3 at the Garden.
Something isn’t right, though. But for now, Knicks fans can be thankful that notoriously hardheaded Tom Thibodeau opted to play Obi Toppin in the fourth quarter of Game 4 over Randle.
Toppin had only five points (2-of-5), but both he and Isaiah Hartenstein finished with eight rebounds apiece, second to Mitchell Robinson’s 11. Five of Toppin’s rebounds were offensive rebounds. Robinson had seven offensive rebounds, so that duo combined for 12 of the team’s 17 total offensive rebounds. Crashing the offensive boards was a huge part of why the Knicks won.
"He has quietly been not only good today, he's been good this entire series"
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 23, 2023
–– Jeff Van Gundy on Obi Toppin pic.twitter.com/fwp1z6ijns
Toppin needed to have a huge playoff performance, and so far, he’s delivered. New York picked up his fourth-year option earlier in the season, but trade rumors have since been floating around his name. The Knicks will have some tough decisions to make this summer, but Toppin’s been making a good case for himself.
Shoutout to Tom Thibodeau for doing the unexpected and benching Julius Randle. Obi Toppin has been deserving of the spotlight.
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