If there’s one thing we know about a Tom Thibodeau-coached team it’s that he’s going to play his starters a ton of minutes. He’s been known to run with short rotations, relying heavily upon his starters to the point where there tends to be criticism about overworking his stars. It’s been a storyline this season, as three Knicks players rank in the top 10 in minutes played per game, with Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges occupying the top two spots on that list, respectively.
You could argue that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, as the Knicks had a 41-23 record and sat third in the Eastern Conference entering play Wednesday, but Bridges has talked to Thibodeau about playing the starters fewer minutes.
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” Bridges said via the New York Post. “You’ll want that as a coach but also talked 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 [minutes], 47.”
Bridges and Hart are both averaging nearly 38 minutes a game, with Bridges leading the league in total minutes at 2,420 for the season.
“We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes,” Bridges said. “Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there.”
No immediate changes were made Wednesday, as Bridges played 40 minutes in an overtime win against the Blazers. He was still fresh enough to hit the game-winning 3-pointer, too. Further more, Bridges and Thibodeau had a “productive” meeting before the win and after his comments were made public, per SNY.
Bridges has been an ironman of sorts, having never missed a single regular-season game over his seven-year career. He currently holds the league’s longest active streak of consecutive games played, an impressive feat given how instrumental he’s been on both sides of the ball throughout his career. He’s practically been the spokesperson for durability in the NBA, so when he makes a point to talk to Thibodeau about scaling back minutes, it’s worth listening.
“I think he’s not arguing about it. Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways and he gets locked in. He just wants to keep the guy out there,” Bridges said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, like Landry [Shamet], for example or somebody, keep him out there, they’re playing well.”
We’ll see if Thibodeau takes Bridges’ words to heart, especially as the postseason nears. The last thing the Knicks need is guys entering the playoffs run down due to the number of minutes they’re playing, especially with Jalen Brunson already sidelined with an ankle injury. We saw how injuries wrecked the Knicks in the playoffs last season, as OG Anunoby and Josh Hart missed time due to various ailments.
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Jack Maloney
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You can’t draw a direct line from the number of minutes played to injuries, but at this point in the season, with a month left before the playoffs, it may be smart of Thibodeau to ease off the gas to allow guys like Bridges and Hart to rest up before what the Knicks hope to make a deep postseason run.