Saturday, May 24, 2025

Tom Thibodeau's dogmatic commitment to his starting lineup might cost the Knicks a trip to the NBA Finals

Almost every lineup the Knicks are putting on the floor this postseason is working. Of the 18 most-used lineups New York has thrown out there in the playoffs, 12 have a positive point-differential and a 13th is neutral. Of the five negatives, three have only been outscored by single digits. A fourth has only played 11 minutes.

But the fifth is by far the most-used, and -- based on the first two paragraphs -- you probably know which group I'm talking about. New York's starters have played 308 minutes in the postseason and been outscored by 50 points.

This is basically statistically impossible. ...There's an easy logic to that fact. Generally speaking, if a lineup is playing that badly in the postseason, the team is smart enough to stop using it. ...

That's what's so maddening here. Every other lineup the Knicks are using is working. But they keep going back to a group that isn't, and hasn't for quite some time.