Another Knicks No-Show Leads To Some Difficult Questions

At some point, Thibodeau's unique delirium may be deemed a damaging detriment as opposed to a necessary accelerant...

Final Score: Knicks 105 - Celtics 118
Record: 37-20

After an embarrassing defeat to the Cavs, the Knicks jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Yes, taking on the Celtics in Boston would be an undeniably challenging matchup, but it also presented the Knicks with an opportunity to show some fight and reclaim their pride.

"It's put up or shut up time." That's how I ended the first segment of Saturday's newsletter.

However, New York stumbled out of the gates on Sunday afternoon and aside from Josh Hart, the starters looked inexplicably flat and uninspired. The Knicks gave up 38 points in the first quarter.

New York's bench provided a boost, but the damage had been done. By halftime, the Knicks trailed by 19 points. And the start of the second half was eerily similar to the first. The Cs got whatever looks they wanted, while NY settled for contested, long 2s.

After Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sunk back-to-back three-pointers on successive possessions, the Boston lead ballooned to 37 points (77-50) less than four minutes into the third quarter.

Unlike the soul-sucking, disaster-class in Cleveland, the Knicks actually showed some fight and resilience Sunday in Beantown. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns played with some urgency in the third, and New York went on a run. They eventually whittled the Celtics lead down to four in the final frame before Boston went on a 10-0 run to seal the deal.

If the Knicks hadn't made the second half somewhat respectable, I would have spilled a lot of ink questioning the character of this club. So, I will give them some credit for competing, but we are well past the point of claiming the Knicks deserve kudos or achieved some moral victory because the final deficit was "only" 13 points. New York entered this season as a legit title contender. They don't get a gold sticker for not losing by 30+ points.

While having the guts to fight back is encouraging, the most meaningful takeaway is that they have been blown out of the building in all four games against the NBA's three best teams in 2025.

Just as they had done in the first two meetings between these two clubs, Boston ripped New York's defense to shreds on Sunday.

From the opening tip, the Celtics spammed high screens to get KAT involved in pick-and-roll action. Unfortunately, Thibs continued instructing his troops to fall into drop coverage, and the results were predictably painful.

On the C's first full offensive possession, Kristaps Porzingis set a screen for Tatum and popped out behind the arc for a wide-open three-pointer as KAT watched with one foot in the paint.

Here are the final three treys Boston knocked down in the second quarter. Notice a theme?

These defensive breakdowns are eerily similar to the ones we saw against Cleveland and OKC. Sunday was the third time New York has played Boston this season, and the second time this month. Yet we saw very few significant adjustments from head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Per ESPN, "New York has run more drop coverage against Boston -- 48% of the time against ball screens -- than any team in the league. And, across those possessions, the Celtics have averaged 1.34 points per direct pick, per ESPN Research -- their best rate against any team playing drop coverage against them this season."

Even in terms of rotations and minutes distribution, Thibs remained stubbornly rigid.

As noted above, the reserves provide a nice spark in the second quarter. Landry Shamet splashed two triples and was a team-high +6 in five first-half minutes but never got off the pine after halftime.

Precious Achiuwa has shown he is ineffective against teams that feature floor-spacers like the Cavs and C's. However, he still logged 15 minutes Sunday afternoon despite not scoring a single point and collecting just one rebound.

There was little variation in offensive sets to punish Boston's over-pursuing on the perimeter and far too many clear-outs for Brunosn in the hopes he would cash in a difficult look.

Yet, my biggest issue with Thibs had nothing to do with X's and O's. Instead, it was his inexplicable refusal to wave the white towel, this time in an extreme situation.

With under nine minutes remaining in regulation, KAT attacked the basket on the right side of the floor and went up for a layup, only to be thwarted by Porzigis at the rim. Towns appeared to land awkwardly and limped back up the floor. The pain in his left knee seemed to spike as he made his way toward the Knicks' sideline.

After New York called a timeout, KAT crumpled onto the bench and clutched at his left knee. He writhed in pain as the training staff rushed to his side. Towns then got to his feet and limped slowly back to the locker room.

Knicks fans breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed KAT returned to the bench a few minutes later. However, the 20,000 people in attendance and millions watching on TV were stunned when they saw him at the scorer's table, preparing to check back in. There was no way Thibs would let him re-enter this game, right?

A TV timeout was called as KAT was standing at the table. Surely, cooler heads would prevail before play resumed.

Stunningly, with 4:12 left on the clock and the Knicks trailing 111-93, it was announced that Karl-Anthony Towns was replacing Deuce McBride. Josh Hart (who missed NY's two prior games due to patellofemoral pain syndrome in his right knee) also checked in, sending Precious Achiuwa to the bench.

Boston smartly, savagely attacked Towns, making him move laterally and defend in space. The Celtics were rewarded with an easy Jaylen Brown layup.

There were now less than 3:45 remaining in regulation. The Knicks were down 20 points, and Towns gingerly limped back to the offensive end. I couldn't believe what I was watching.

Inexplicably, a gimpy Towns stayed on the floor for the entirety of the final four minutes.

As a reminder, Karl-Anthony Towns is in the first year of a four-year, $220 million extension (the largest contract in Knicks franchise history).

He will earn $53 million next season, $57 million in 2026-27 and $61 million in 2027-28.

And every penny in that contract is guaranteed. The Knicks are on the hook for that money, whether he is healthy or not.

Thibs sent KAT back into a regular-season game in February of 2025, in which New York was down 20 points and four minutes remaining after KAT was just doubled over in apparent agony. That is an indefensible coaching decision. Period.

It's reckless and short-sighted.

If the head coach refuses to look at the big picture and consider the long-term health of the franchise and its cornerstone players, then the front office has to step in.

The most successful NBA coaches balance the dual objectives of winning enough in the regular season to secure favorable postseason seeding while also ensuring their team is in the best possible position to win 16 playoff games over two grueling months and capture a championship.

I've seen some folks on Twitter argue that because KAT wanted to go back into the game, Thibs is not liable. I completely disagree.

One of the responsibilities of every coach is to, on occasion, protect players from themselves. Sending KAT back into that game without him first undergoing a complete medical valuation - including an x-ray and MRI - is unconscionable.

Whatever KAT said, with adrenaline coursing through his veins in the heat of battle, should have been completely ignored.

We'll have a much more in-depth conversation about Thibs and his fate in the future, but his seat is now heating up.

New York needed Tom Thibodeau's maniacal approach to resuscitate a dying franchise five years ago. Yes, the bar was unimaginably low when he took over in 2020, but he exceeded expectations and helped transform the Knicks from a laughingstock to a legitimate contender.

In the process, he was rewarded with tens of millions of dollars and won an NBA Coach of the Year award, as the Knicks won games and played well/hard consistently for the first time since Patrick's prime.

However, this summer, we may need to ask if Thibs can take New York from good to great.

If Thibodeau receives credit for having his (talented) teams regularly ready to fight/compete during the regular season, he deserves to get criticized when his team is completely outclassed against quality opponents. Most alarmingly, the Knicks' effort level these past two games has been embarrassing.

At some point, Thibodeau's unique delirium may be deemed a damaging detriment as opposed to a necessary accelerant.

He led the Knicks out of the muck and mud and into the rarefied air of respectability. But as challenges get more demanding and difficult amid increased altitude, is Thibs the man to guide this team the rest of the way toward their ultimate destination atop the mountain?

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:

🏀 Josh Hart was among the few bright spots for New York during this latest Boston Massacre. After missing the first two games after the All-Star break, Hart looked sharp and stuffed the stat sheet on Sunday, racking up 20 points (8-of-14 FGs, 4-of-4 FTs), 11 rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes.

After the game, he provided some clarity on his nagging knee issue. "It's something that comes and goes, something that I've managed for a long — one time I was in the bubble [during the pandemic] with New Orleans, I would play and the next day really I couldn't even get to half-court," Hart said. "It was a pain, it was a struggle for me to even jog to half-court, and now I'm playing 48 minutes for Tom Thibodeau. So there's peaks and valleys with it. Not really worried about it. All the time I pray for it before every game. By his grace I'm healed so I go out there and play my game."

"I just felt that there was a couple, you know, couple more days of rest obviously would benefit my knee," Hart said. "So that's something that we all came to an agreement on. Now it's back to the regularly scheduled program."

I didn't even get into the minutes mess during the Thibs diatribe above, but playing Hart 40+ minutes in his first game back is something almost all other coaches would have avoided. Over the past calendar year, Hart has played more minutes than any other player in the NBA. Mikal Bridges ranks second.

🏀 Speaking of Bridges, he got a few buckets late but was a complete non-factor for most of the contest. New York was outscored by 23 points in the 28 minutes he was on the floor.

This is obviously concerning, considering one of the primary reasons Leon Rose gave so many picks to Brooklyn was so Bridges could help slow down the Celtics' dynamic duo of Tatum and Brown.

Per NBA Advanced Stats Player Tracking analysis, over the three games between New York and Boston this season, Bridges has been the primary defender on Tatum for 68.6 possessions. In those trips, Tatum is 8-of-13 from the floor (61.5%), including 4-of-7 from deep (57%) and has dished out seven assists without committing a single turnover.

That's the highest FG% by Tatum against all players who have defended him for 60+ possessions this season.

However, the player Tatum has scored the most points against this season is… drum-roll, please… Karl-Anthony Towns.

Incredibly, Tatum is 15-of-19 from the floor (5-of-7 from three-point range) in just 21.3 partial possessions against the Knicks when KAT is the nearest defender.

Hmmm, it's almost as if drop coverage is not the best strategy to deploy vs. the Celtics???

🏀 One other issue on the Bridges front is his lack of rebounding. After grabbing just one board in NY's loss to Cleveland, he didn't have a single rebound Sunday vs. Boston.

Bridges has never been a great rebounder, and he has spent most of the past two games chasing snipers around the perimeter, but he's averaging a career-low 4.1 rebounds per 100 possessions this season (his previous low was 5.2). That's not acceptable. He needs to do a better job helping NY clean the glass.

🏀 Miles McBride should receive more time playing alongside the starters, as his strong play has earned increased opportunities. As an added benefit, Deuce soaking up some minutes on the wing would allow Bridges to get some much-needed in-game rest.

In the 72 minutes McBride has played next to Brunson, OG, Hart and KAT this season, New York is averaging 132.4 points per 100 possessions while allowing just 102.1.

That ridiculous Net Rating of +30.3 is the highest, by far, of all Knick five-man lineups that have logged more than 50 minutes together this season.

The 132.4 OffRtg is the highest in the entire league among all 5-man units with 70+ minutes of floor time.

Conversely, Precious Achiuwa has played 116 minutes alongside Brunson/OG/Hart/KAT and that unit has a Net Rating of +2.9

In the 100 minutes featuring Precious and Brunson/Bridges/OG/Hart, NY has posted a Net Rating of -5.1 (the worst NetRtg among NY lineups that have played 50+ minutes together).

The moral of the story for Thibs: Less Precious, more McBride.

🏀 Could help be on the way? ESPN's Shams Charania reported yesterday that Mitchell Robinson has made it through multiple full-court scrimmages and hopes to make his 2024-25 debut this week.

🏀 Next Up:
Knicks vs. the Sixers on Wednesday (7:00 pm tip)

Shams also reported on Sunday that Philly is considering shutting down Joel Embiid. The Sixers are "consulting doctors and considering alternative options, such as surgery, for his injured left knee," Charania wrote. "Both sides have hoped for progress in Embiid's condition, but his determination to play and current treatments -- including regular injections, sources said -- have not led to any improvement. Embiid is scheduled to undergo tests on his knee early this week, at which point both parties will collaborate with specialists on the best route forward."

With Philadelphia 16 games under .500, it seems pretty obvious they intend to tank the rest of the season and hope they get lucky in the lottery. The Sixers currently have the sixth-worst record in the league, which is crucial, considering the 76ers' first-round pick in the 2025 draft is top-six protected. If Philly ends up 7th or higher, the pick goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder.