Tom Thibodeau relying heavily on Knicks dynamic starting-five thats among NBAs best
It should come as no surprise by now that the Knicks lead the NBA in minutes played by their dynamic starting five by a considerable margin.As some would say, why not? They clearly now are at or near the top among all regular starting units in the league, with all brought to New York by team president Leon Rose over the past three years.Some fans understandably view this as a legitimate concern about the team’s underutilized bench depth with more than half the season remaining as the calendar flips to 2025 and teams start to prepare for the playoffs.Still, the sizzling Knicks and coach Tom Thibodeau see it as an absolute strength that their starters have been alternately sharing the scoring load and playing at high levels of efficiency while synergizing on the court together.Carrying an eight-game winning streak into Wednesday’s home game against the sinking Jazz, the Knicks finished December with a 12-2 mark — yes, albeit mostly against a soft scheduling patch — to improve to 23-10 overall.That represents the fourth-best record in the NBA, and leaves them one game behind the No.
2 Celtics in the Eastern Conference.The more accomplished defending champs probably still hold an edge over the Knicks as a starting unit when at full strength, but Kristaps Porzingis has been limited to 11 games this season by ankle issues.Boston only has had their main lineup of Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday on the court together for a total of 85 minutes through 33 games, according to the NBA website.Meanwhile, the quintet of All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, two-way dynamo OG Anunoby, sparkplug Josh Hart and newcomers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges have totaled a league-best 561 together over 30 games in which they all have suited up.Towns sat out twice and Hart once through Monday’s road win over Washington.“We have a game plan that we’re just trying to go out there and win and we know we have a lot of weapons,” Brunson ...