The New York Knicks are NBA Cup champions, and while some continue to cackle at the midseason achievement, the method by which they got there is no laughing matter: Mike Brown’s flexibility, and willingness to bench Mikal Bridges in favor of Tyler Kolek down the stretch of the NBA Cup Final.
Plenty of other factors contributed to the Knicks’ Tuesday night victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Jalen Brunson is the NBA Cup MVP for a reason. Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding remains insane. OG Anunoby deserves All-Defense buzz, and All-Star consideration. Jordan Clarkson hit big shots. The list goes on.
Still, with New York playing far from its best basketball, Mike Brown futzed and fiddled and experimented. No adjustment paid off more than running with the three-guard trio of Brunson, Clarkson, and Kolek.
Turning to them shifted the outcome of the NBA Final. More importantly, it simultaneously validated the Knicks’ controversial decision to move on from Tom Thibodeau after last season.
The Knicks would not be NBA Cup champions if Thibodeau were still the coach
Rolling out that three-guard combination was not an intuitive choice. It is certainly not one Thibodeau would have made, particularly if it meant tethering one of his most-played names to the bench down the stretch.
Entering Tuesday night, the Brunson-Kolek-Clarkson triplet had logged eight total minutes together. They ended up playing over 10 minutes with each other in the NBA Cup Final, nearly eight of which came in the fourth quarter, during which time the Knicks outscored the Spurs by 12 points.
There is no chance in hell Thibs is rolling with that grouping, at all, on this stage. He most definitely isn’t letting Kolek, of all players, close this game. (Or dusting off Ariel Hukporti!) Thibs barely acknowledged his existence last season. Brown has not leaned on the 24-year-old too heavily, but he’s been more open to giving him opportunities. And it’s starting to pay huge dividends.
This says nothing of the decision to have Bridges watch from the bench for all but 2:49 of the fourth quarter. Thibs and Bridges were almost never on the same page, but it’d be a cold day in-you-know-what before he’s giving run to the defensively limited Clarkson or a sophomore such as Kolek over a veteran iron man.
New York clearly made the right decision over the offseason
The NBA Cup is not an NBA championship. Let’s make that clear. The Knicks have a lot of basketball left to play. They have questions. They have flaws to address. That they felt the need to lean on Kolek, to give Brunson another ball-handling outlet, over Bridges registers as a potential concern.
Yet, at nearly every turn, Brown has delivered on his promise to change the way these Knicks operate. This is most frequently measured through his offensive system. But it can also be gauged in his overall decision-making.
Through roughly one-third of the season, it’s clear that Brown is willing to explore the unknown—that he’s comfortable being uncomfortable. Benching a core guy for Kolek is not standard practice, but Brown has not shied from making potentially unpopular rotation choices in the past. Just ask Josh Hart.
We do not yet know how this season will end. What we do know, though, is that these Knicks are clearly better off with Mike Brown captaining the ship—if only because, regardless of the outcome, they’ll know he’s turned over virtually every rock.