The New York Knicks just won a playoff series playing extremely shorthanded, with the rotation shrinking to as little as seven players for the last two games of the series. While the starters are expected to play a bulk of the minutes in any playoff setting, the idea of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau expanding the rotation for the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Pacers could become a real possibility.
When asked if he would consider bringing in more bench players for the second round, Thibodeau gave the most Thibodeau answer you could get.
“We could,” said Thibodeau via The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
The Knicks’ rotation is very thin
One of the Pacers’ main strengths is their depth, with guys like TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin leading that unit. In their Game 6 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the pair combined for 41 points. In stark contrast, the Knicks only had five bench points in their Game 6 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the injury to Bojan Bogdanovic that will end his season, the Knicks bench is essentially Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson. However, starting center Isaiah Hartenstein found himself in foul trouble often during the first round against Philadelphia, so their options became very limited and nearly every starter had to play 40+ minutes.
In the first round against Philadelphia, three Knicks players averaged at least 41 minutes (Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby), and Hart currently leads all players in minutes per game this postseason with 46.3 minutes on average.
Now, Knicks players are used to carrying heavy workloads under Thibodeau’s leadership, but the prospect of fatigue could certainly be a factor, especially after playing a physical team like Philadelphia and now playing against a relentless offense in Indiana.
Could Precious Achiuwa or Alec Burks re-enter the rotation?
The first name that comes to mind that could see action is Precious Achiuwa. Achiuwa is the team’s third-string big, but he demonstrated the ability to step in and make plays at any point in time with his highly impactful performance on the defensive end in Game 4 against Philadelphia while Mitchell Robinson was out with an injury.
What hurts Achiuwa’s chances of getting significant burns is his inability to provide much offense. The lack of shot creation renders him nearly useless at the power forward position, and the Knicks have two impactful bigs in front of him. However, if injuries or foul trouble play a factor, Achiuwa could step in and provide important minutes.
Alec Burks, meanwhile, has not played since April 12 as he has essentially been completely phased out of the rotation. With the injury to Bogdanovic, the Knicks lack a pure scorer in the second unit. Despite Burks’ massive struggles, he could provide a spark if the team finds themselves desperately needing additional shooting.
It is still unclear if any sort of expansion to the rotation is going to happen, but be on the lookout for the potential of more faces to appear on the court in the second round. Game 1 against Indiana is Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
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