Knicks' latest Tom Thibodeau controversy misses the point

The New York Knicks missed a crucial opportunity to close out the Detroit Pistons in Game 5, and afford themselves some highly coveted, much-needed rest prior to a prospective second-round matchup with the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics. Head coach Tom Thibodeau is part of that failure—a big part.

Nobody should deny this much. And yet, the main criticism coming out of Game 5 entirely misses the point. Thibodeau is being painted as a scapegoat, and while he's certainly not beyond reproach, this time, he's shouldering blame for all the wrong reasons.

Did injury controversy cost the Knicks Game 5?

Inside three minutes to play Tuesday night, Josh Hart fell to the floor, barely able to move, and Jalen Brunson rolled his ankle during a defensive possession. Thibodeau used one of his final two timeouts, and when New York headed back to the floor, both Brunson and Hart were out of the game.

Barely a minute later, the duo approached the scorer’s table, ready to check back in. But Thibs elected against using his final timeout, and instead waited for organic stoppage. That break in play never came, so Brunson and Hart watched on, for roughly 90 seconds, as a clutch-time unit featuring Cam Payne and Deuce McBride proved unable to keep the Knicks within striking distance, let alone regain the lead. 

Thibs eventually burned his final timeout with just over 27 seconds left in regulation. By then, it was too late. Cade Cunningham found Ausar Thompson on the preceding play under the basket for a point-blank look that increased Detroit’s lead to six.

Reactions in the aftermath have since portrayed Thibs as the main culprit of the loss. Because clearly, he mismanaged the situation. And when the margins of a series are this thin, even mistakes with the best of intentions can prove costly. 

Except, that's not what happened here. Not entirely.

Thibs did not mismanage his timeouts

Clinging to the Knicks' final timeout was not a blunder by Thibodeau. It was the typical coach's move. If you call that timeout, you allow the Pistons to dictate stoppage for the final 90 seconds. Ideally, you would still have at least one in your clip, particularly as the trailing team, in case you need to advance the ball on a crucial possession after playing the foul game.

Granted, it isn't just Thibs' use—or non-use—of the last timeout that's under the microscope. The Knicks, in theory, could have saved more than two timeouts leading into the momentary Hart and Brunson breathers. As Knicks Film School's Jonathan Macri pointed out, "Thibodeau had four timeouts, but he used one with 5:01 remaining when it looked like the team was collectively gassed, and another with 4:16 to after a Cunningham triple put Detroit up five and New York needed a reset (and probably another breather)."

The part about New York's players looking "collectively gassed" and needing to catch a beat can and will and has kind of already rekindled the debate about Thibs' minutes distribution. The Knicks would not be so tired, obviously, if their most important guys logged fewer minutes. That is to some extent true. New York is the only team with five players averaging over 37 minutes per game in the playoffs.

Still, even those two previous fourth-quarter timeouts are far from malpractice. They were the right move. Using one at the 5:01 mark, in particular, was downright smart. It came between a pair of Cade Cunningham free throws, and there is data to support that icing the shooter is an actual thing.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the Knicks

Yes, if Thibs knew how the final stretch action would play out, he definitely would have used his final timeout to put Brunson and Hart back in the game. Or he would have saved an additional timeout, rather than use the other two during the fourth quarter.

But this is the benefit of hindsight. Thibs could not have known Brunson and Hart would need injury breaks at the same time with under three minutes to go. He also could not have known there wouldn't be another dead ball after pulling them. And to his credit, he did not try to shield himself from criticism afterward.

"Coach's decision" is the perfect way to describe it, because that's what it was. It turned out to be the wrong one, but that does not make it an indefensible call.

Boiling down the Knicks' Game 5 loss to that gaffe is unfair, and ignores everything else that went wrong. Sure, Thibs could have used his final timeout sooner. Karl-Anthony Towns could have also not had his ultra-difficult shot blocked coming out of the timeout. And Mikal Bridges could have made one of his two semi-open looks during the stretch without Brunson and Hart.

So many other developments loom, as well. What if Towns didn't have one of his worst defensive performances of the season? What if he and Brunson did not combine to go 9-of-30 from the floor? What if McBride remembered how to hit shots?

Thibodeau is not blameless when looking at the current state of the Knicks. Their offense is uninventive, and lacks counters. His heavy use of starters is a real problem, especially when they're not playing particularly well together. Would Hart be in better spirits and shape if Thibs made it more of a priority to explore the depth around him? Could Brunson's offensive workload be lighter? Would another coach milk more out of the Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll? And instill more general off-ball movement, and more pace?

These are all fair and important criticisms and questions. Any combination of them could derail the Knicks' postseason run, and cost Thibodeau his job. Whatever happens next, though, the inflection point of this series and New York's future shouldn't be distilled down to the use of timeouts down the stretch of one game. The Knicks and Thibodeau, together, have a world of issues with which they must reconcile. This isn't even close to the most damning one.

Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.