So what if you break into the Eastern Conference Final? If Thibodeau doesn t change his stubborn rotation, the Knicks will still struggle

Last season's Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Knicks not only lost to the Pacers in tiebreak, but also lost Brunson, the general in that game. In the offseason last year, they traded Randall to the Timberwolves and exchanged for Towns, although everyone also felt that the Knicks could have a place in the East, but they really defeated the Celtics in the semi-finals and met the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, which was more or less beyond everyone's expectations.

The Knicks' last appearance on the Eastern Conference Finals stage can be traced back to 2000, and their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals happened to be the Pacers. This time the two teams fought again. If the Knicks want to cross the Pacers, Thibodeau's inherent rotational thinking must be changed, otherwise the Knicks will not only stop in the Eastern Conference Finals, but may even repeat the situation of the main core retreat last season. So far in the playoffs, only 7 players have averaged double-digit playing time in the Knicks, of which the five players have averaged more than 35 minutes per game. In other words, in addition to the starting lineup, there are only two rotations on the Knicks, McBride and Mitchell Robinson, on the bench.

As a comparison, the Pacers, coached by champion coach Carlisle, played team basketball in this playoffs. Although the team's star flavor may not be as good as the Knicks, as of now, the team has a total of 9 players averaging double-digit time, and it is not counted as the average of 9 minutes between Thomas Bryant and Jares Walker. In other words, they basically rotated 11 players in the playoffs, averaged Halliburton, who has the highest playing time, has only 34.1 minutes. The Pacers, who do not rely on the core main players, did play team basketball this playoffs, and averaged 117.7 points per game, ranked second in the league (117.7 points), and averaged 29.7 assists per game, and ranked first in the league. The shooting percentage (50.1%) and three-point shooting percentage (40.6%) are both the first in the league, and the offensive efficiency is 117.3.

But although the Knicks have the core of Towns and Brunson, the offensive efficiency is actually relatively average. They only ranked 8th in the league in the playoffs, the offensive efficiency is 110.7, and the defensive efficiency is 110.6, but they are ranked fifth in the league. For "farmers" like Thibodeau, no matter whether your core main force is in good condition, he will "exploit" them. So if he really stubbornly does not broaden the rotation lineup, the Knicks will actually not be able to escape when facing the Pacers on the Eastern Conference Finals stage.

In fact, other substitutes of the Knicks are not very useful. During the regular season, including Achuwa, Payne, Wright, and Shamet, they all performed well, but in the playoffs, they unfortunately fell out of the Knicks' regular rotation. In the last quarter of the Knicks and the Celtics G6, the Knicks had already led the score by a big score, but Thibodeau still allowed core main players such as Anunobi, Bridges, and Brunson to play for a long time. It was not until the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game that all substitutes were sent to the bench. If Thibodeau still "exploited" the main players like this, the probability of the Knicks entering the finals may be smaller than that of the Pacers.