The New York Knicks snapped their dreadful home losing streak with a 92-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game in which Cam Reddish, a regular in the rotation prior to Sunday’s game, recorded a healthy DNP.
Reddish wasn’t the only change on Sunday, as Derrick Rose was also a healthy inactive on the bench.
However, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau clarified that Rose’s absence was due to the fact that New York was playing a back-to-back and they wanted to give him an extra day of rest and hinted that he could be back in the rotation on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
As for Reddish, his forecast is a little more cloudy. Thibodeau elected to go with a nine-man rotation on Sunday, which ultimately caused the Duke product to not see the floor. Thibodeau also hinted that the rotation he used on Sunday (or a similar one including Rose) could be the main rotation going forward.
“I want to get it to a nine-man rotation, it worked a lot better. So, just be ready.” Thibodeau said. “We’re always going to what we think is best for the team. So I want to prioritize that and that doesn’t mean it’s permanent, just means that’s where we are right now.
Tom Thibodeau on sitting Cam Reddish
Cam Reddish’s benching comes after a dreadful game against Dallas
Reddish’s sudden removal from the rotation follows what was an uninspiring performance in the Knicks’ disastrous 121-100 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
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In the game against Dallas, Reddish played only nine minutes and provided virtually no positive impact on either end of the floor, recording zero points, zero rebounds, one assist, three turnovers, all with a plus/minus of -16.
The awful performance by Reddish only added fuel to the dumpster fire that was the Knicks on Saturday. Thibodeau was asked if his decision to bench Reddish on Sunday was a direct result of his performance against the Mavericks, and he tip-toed around that notion in his response to reporters after Sunday’s win.
“I don’t want to put anything on one guy. I don’t believe in that. The big thing is, you take a hard look at the game, what can we do differently. What can make it better?” Thibodeau said. “I liked where we were offensively and defensively [Sunday against Cleveland] even though it was a low scoring game. I don’t really care if we win scoring a lot of points or scoring few points, as long as we have more than them.”
Tom Thibodeau via Fred Katz of The Athletic
As for the season overall, Reddish is 8.4 PPG on his highest career efficiency, shooting a career-best 44.9% from the field. Despite the capabilities he could bring as a solid second-unit option, it appears that Thibodeau sees him as the most replaceable option.
Will Reddish be permanently benched, just like Evan Fournier? The answer will be known for sure on Wednesday, but all signs point to that being the case going forward.
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