Sports.

If you locked the best writers and showrunners in Hollywood in a room for ten days and asked them to produce an incredibly compelling storyline, they couldn't have conjured up Wednesday's theatrics...

Final Score: Knicks 114 - Blazers 113
Record: 42-23

There is a reason the NBA signed a new TV deal worth a mind-boggling $76 billion. Despite the complaints about the league today, people cutting the cord on cable, and the other distractions of modern life that prevent folks from watching television, we still tune into sports because the games are unscripted.

As engrossing as all the great shows streaming on Netflix, Hulu etc. can be, in the minds of many fans, they don't hold a candle to a heated athletic competition that comes down to the wire, with the final result unknown to all.

And sometimes, if you are lucky, you get the added suspense of off-court drama to fuel the fire in addition to late-game heroics.

Which brings us to last night in Portland…

If you locked the best writers and showrunners in Hollywood in a room for ten days and asked them to produce an incredibly compelling storyline, they couldn't have conjured up Wednesday's theatrics.

To recap (spoiler alert):
The day began with Mikal Bridges calling out head coach Tom Thibodeau's minutes distribution, which set the Knicks fanbase ablaze. Then, in his pregame presser, Thibs called Bridges a liar and stubbornly doubled down on his controversial strategy. Incredibly/unimaginably, the night ended with Bridges scoring a game-high 33 points and nailing a buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime to beat the Blazers.

If those screenwriters presented that narrative arc to a producer, they would have been fired for suggesting something so far-fetched.

For those that may have missed it, after the Knicks shootaround Wednesday morning, Bridges was asked a relatively innocuous question regarding Tom Thibodeau's reputation as a coach who plays his starters heavy minutes. Surprisingly, Bridges was forthcoming.

"Sometimes not fun on the body," Bridges replied. "But you want that as a coach, but also talk to him a little bit, knowing that we've got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in, and we don't need to play 48, 47 [minutes]."

"We've got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away the minutes," Bridges added, "which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps us keeping fresh bodies out there."

When asked if Thibodeau was receptive to Bridges' concerns, the durable forward responded: "Yeah, no, he's not really; he's not arguing about it. Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways, and he gets locked in and he just wants to keep the guy out there. Sometimes you have to tell him like, Landry (Shamet), for example, or somebody, keep them out there, they're playing well."

On most other teams, these comments wouldn't cause much controversy. However, since Thibs arrived, the Knicks have almost uniformly kept all private conversations inside the locker room. Furthermore, the minute's issue has trailed Thibodeau throughout his entire coaching career, dating back to his first stop in Chicago. It's something he is sensitive about.

When Thibs met with reporters before Thursday's game, Thibs attacked the line of questioning head-on, immediately disputing Bridges' claim that the player and the coach had ever discussed the subject.

"For one, we never had a conversation about it," Thibodeau declared. "The facts are the facts. When you look at our team and the way it works, Jalen (Brunson) plays 35 minutes, and I think he's 20th or 21st in average minutes played. (Karl-Anthony) Towns, who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He's like 25th in the league in average minutes."

Thibs defended Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby playing heavy minutes by arguing that's the nature of the position. "The way it works, if Jayson Tatum is in the game or Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG (Anunoby) will be in the game, and Mikal will be in the game," Thibodeau said. "When those guys go out, (our) guys go out. When they come back, (our guys) come back. We try to keep them matched up. If you look at the league, all those guys are playing 36, 37 minutes — whether it's Durant, Tatum, (Jaylen) Brown. The wings are going to play more. They are primary wing defenders. That's the way it works. And then, sometimes, you're caught in matchups. The Lakers are big wings, so sometimes you deal with that."

It was unsurprising, but still disappointing, to see Thibs dig in.

Yes, it's certainly fair to criticize Bridges for publicly airing a complaint, as it rarely results in a positive outcome. However, it's possible that Bridges had previously pleaded his case to Thibs privately, and the head coach decided to ignore the player's suggestions.

Thibs throwing fuel on the fire was unlikely to extinguish the flames. More importantly, Thibs has to acknowledge, as he himself said, "the facts are the facts."

Those who subscribe to the newsletter know where I stand on the matter. And I have used countless statistics and metrics to prove that Thibodeau's coaching style is unusual in today's NBA.

We can argue whether Thibs' approach is "good" or "bad" and whether his uncommon and unconventional strategy makes the Knicks more or less likely to win an NBA championship. There is no definitive proof, only educated speculation.

However, there is no doubt that Thibodeau is playing his starters more than any other head coach in the league. That fact can not be disputed.

Last night was the 27th time this season Mikal Bridges logged more than 40 minutes in a game, which is by far the most of any player in the NBA. Only three other players have played 40+ minutes more than 15 times, and two of those are Knicks, Josh Hart (23) and OG Anunoby (17).

If any player in the league has a right to voice their opinion on their workload, it's Bridges.