Tom Thibodeau was in his bag during the New York Knicks’ second-round victory over the Boston Celtics. He needs to be even better in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Because the Knicks won’t beat the Indiana Pacers, and advance to their first NBA Finals since 1999 if he’s not.
New York’s head coach has carved out a level of vindication, for both himself and his team, by making it this far. Nobody is trying to refute that, or take it away. But the Pacers will stress test Thibs’ decision-making and flexibility in ways he’s yet to face during these playoffs.
Indiana’s own head honcho, Rick Carlisle, has proven to be nothing if not an expert tactician. He is arguably more dangerous than ever given the Pacers’ depth, and his evolving willingness to experiment and variate—particularly on the offensive end.
The Knicks need their own battle-worn commander-in-chief to be just as good—if not better.
Thibodeau has many questions facing the Pacers will force him to answer
The number of potential warts and hiccups and issues for which Thibs must be ready is beyond long.
There are, of course, the usual questions. We know the Knicks won’t change their starting five, but are they willing to go away from it during the game if it’s not effective, and if the Josh Hart problem that still exists becomes even bigger? Will the Knicks tire out under their workload to this point? Will Thibs adjust accordingly if they do? Or has his approach actually prepared them for this moment?
Then, there are the holdovers from the Celtics (and Detroit Piston series)? Will the Knicks continue to liberally switch, like they did against Boston? Or will Indiana’s additional half-court speed and movement expose a squad not used to switching so often before now? How much time can he carve out for the Mitchell Robinson-Karl-Anthony Towns duo? Will Thibs and the Knicks find a way to keep KAT involved if the Pacers follow in the footsteps of the Celtics, Pistons, and many other teams, and guard him with a small?
Indiana also poses a whole spattering of new wrinkles. How will New York handle its speed, not just in transition, but the half-court? Will Thibs have someone other than Jalen Brunson bring the ball to spare him from the Pacers’ full-court pressure?
Who is the ball-handler aside from Brunson they can trust against this 94-feet approach? Josh Hart? Cam Payne? Does Mikal Bridges deserve a shot?
What happens with Brunson on the other end? There is no obvious spot to hide him, not with Aaron Nesmith swishing jumpers and attacking downhill with physicality. Do you consider putting him on Tyrese Haliburton, and hope the Pacers spend too much time pursuing one-on-one matchups?
Thibs is capable of winning this for the Knicks
Tom Thibodeau is galaxies from perfect. That goes for the entire Knicks team.
Both the players and their head coach are here, on the precipice of the NBA Finals, anyway. They got here because of each other, not in spite of one another. Thibs has missed, at many times, in these playoffs. And this says nothing of his previous track record. He has also pressed many of the right buttons, implementing changes most believed he would view as taboo.
The Celtics series, in particular, showed that he is neither incapable nor completely unwilling to change. New York needs that version of Thibs—with even more flexibility. Anything less, and beating the Pacers gets exponentially, if not impossibly, harder.
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.