The New York Knicks got crushed by the Boston Celtics in the season opener Tuesday night, but Miles McBride was a pleasant surprise for New York. He scored 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor and 4-for-5 from three in 26 minutes off the bench.
Knicks’ Miles McBride has a goal to become a starter
Many had debated whether or not McBride was better suited for the starting lineup given his fast development and higher willingness to score compared to Josh Hart. Well, it appears that McBride’s goal is to become a starter.
According to NBA Insider Marc Berman, McBride is trying to develop his game well enough to convince head coach Tom Thibodeau to make a lineup change for the better of the team. This comes as Hart recently expressed confusion about where he fits in the starting five with the Knicks.
“I think he [Josh] is frustrated and I think it was a cry for help,” Berman said on The Knicks Recap. “People close to Miles say his goal is to start”
Josh Hart has been largely uninvolved offensively
Hart scored more points Tuesday against the Celtics than he did during the entire preseason. He scored 12 points on 4-for-6 and added four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes of action. In the preseason, he scored a total of just two points in four games and attempted only six shots.
With the additions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in the offseason, fewer shot opportunities were to be expected for Hart. However, moving him to the bench could help give the Knicks more depth while they navigate through a tough injury situation on the roster.
McBride is quickly on his way to earning a starting job
Doing such a swap could also serve as a reward for McBride, who has quickly evolved into a high-volume scorer. McBride has shown that he plays with the starters comfortably and his numbers as a starter last season are further evidence of such. Last season, McBride averaged 17.9 points per game in 14 starts and shot 41% from three in those games.
Thibodeau is not known to make such drastic changes to his rotation early on in the season, but after an embarrassing performance to open the season against Boston, perhaps he breaks that tradition and makes a change rather quickly given the thin roster he is currently working with. On the other hand, he may want to see if this type of production from McBride is sustainable before shaking things up.
The Knicks will look to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss on Friday when they head back home to take on the Indiana Pacers in a playoff rematch. It will be interesting if McBride gets an increased workload in that game, regardless if he is in the starting five or not.