The New York Knicks, coming off a huge Christmas Day victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, had to face another difficult test on Wednesday night, facing an Oklahoma City Thunder team that has established itself as one of the best in the NBA in the 2023-24 season. In the end, Tom Thibodeau's men fell short, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams each scoring 36 points to lead the way for OKC.
With the game hanging in the balance late, the Knicks had to search for defensive solutions. The Thunder were getting whatever they wanted on almost every possession, and as a result, Thibodeau had to make a defensive substitution, putting in RJ Barrett in place of Immanuel Quickley. This wasn't the most popular decision for some, as Quickley was one of the Knicks' offensive spark plugs on the night, scoring 22 in 25 minutes off the bench.
Nevertheless, the Knicks head coach defended his decision after the game, saying that in the pursuit of victory, some will have to make sacrifices. Tonight, the responsibility to put the team above one's self fell on Quickley's shoulders.
“You're gonna finish with different guys and it's what the game needs. Sometimes it's matchups, sometimes someone's got it going, sometimes you need size, you're looking at the switching. You're asking guys to sacrifice because you can only put five out there,” Thibodeau said in his postgame presser, via New York Basketball on Twitter (X).
“They have length with their wings, you're gonna be doing some switching so you're trying to match up that way.”
Thibs on playing RJ over IQ late in game: "You're gonna finish w/ different guys & it's what the game needs: Sometimes it's matchups, sometimes someone's got it going, sometimes you need size, you're looking at the switching…& you're asking guys to sacrifice b/c you can only put… pic.twitter.com/jHASMhLr57
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 28, 2023
The Thunder are starting four like-sized players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, and Josh Giddey, so it can be a headache to defend them. The Knicks, in particular, may not have been comfortable allowing the 6'3 Immanuel Quickley to handle those bigger matchups.
So from a matchup perspective, Tom Thibodeau's decision wasn't the most egregious. However, Quickley was making things happen for the Knicks on offense in their fourth-quarter comeback attempt. The Knicks were down by seven when Quickley came out of the game with four minutes left, and when he returned with less than a minute to go, New York was already facing a 12-point deficit.
Perhaps there's more merit to letting players cook when they're on a heater than there is to overthinking whatever mismatches may arise from their presence on the court.
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