Boos rain down at Madison Square Garden as Knicks' blowout loss to Thunder underscores need for bench depth

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Jan 10, 2025

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NEW YORK — The minutes police cannot save these Knicks. Neither can a more favorable whistle for Karl-Anthony Towns nor plugging in end-of-rotation players for 10-15 minutes a night.

It’s too late in the season to expect players who haven’t logged meaningful NBA minutes to perform competently in games with playoff implications.

Maybe they’d be ready today if they’d seen the floor in October.

But they didn’t, and they’re not. And now, the Knicks are drowning in their own championship waters.

This isn’t a bad basketball team. Far from it. But with every loss to a quality opponent, it becomes more evident: The Knicks are a step behind and several bodies short of the legitimate title contenders vying for the NBA championship.

Friday’s 126-101 loss to the Western Conference’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder underscored the gap.

The Thunder outclassed the Knicks on Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City. Then they came to Madison Square Garden and completed the season sweep. Former Knick Isaiah Hartenstein’s return to his old stomping grounds served as a poignant reminder of the depth the Thunder have cultivated — a stark contrast to the Knicks’ struggles.

The Knicks are now 12-13 against teams currently seeded 10th or better in their respective conferences. Against everyone else? A dominant 13-1.

Yet, a recurring theme has played out in losses to smarter, deeper teams. The starters log heavy minutes, the bench stretches three to four players max, and opposing coaches with 10 or more trusted players exploit it. They run the Knicks into the ground until cracks inevitably show.

In the first matchup against the Thunder, Aaron Wiggins erupted for 19 points off the bench, including 15 in the fourth quarter. On Friday, it was Isaiah Joe’s turn to shine.

Joe dropped a career-high 31 points on a blistering 8-of-11 shooting from 3 and 11-of-16 shooting overall. He singlehandedly matched the Knicks’ bench, despite Miles McBride returning to the rotation after a five-game absence due to a hamstring injury.

But McBride’s presence wasn’t enough. The Thunder outscored the Knicks by 21 points in McBride’s 20 minutes. The starters didn’t fare much better: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges all posted net ratings of -23.

Bridges was unrecognizable, missing all nine of his shot attempts and failing to score. OG Anunoby managed just four points on 2-of-8 shooting, including 0-of-5 shooting from deep.

Brunson poured in 27 points on 7-of-15 shooting, Towns contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Hart notched a double-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

None of it mattered. Not with Joe’s bench explosion and certainly not with Thunder MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander torching the Knicks for 39 points in just 29 minutes.

Which brings us back to the Knicks’ glaring issues: minutes, foul calls and rotations. None of them alone will solve this team’s championship conundrum. The answer is clear with each passing loss to a quality opponent: the Knicks need to make a trade.

Leon Rose and the front office have excelled in-season before, but this time, the challenge is greater.

The Knicks are up against the second apron hard cap, leaving them no space to sign a player to a rest-of-the-season contract despite having an open roster spot. They also cannot take back more salary than they send out in a deal because they aggregated salaries in the Bridges and Towns trades. They also gave up five draft picks for Bridges plus another for Towns.

New York’s draft capital is limited, with little beyond a wealth of future second-round picks.

Mitchell Robinson could be a trade chip, but he’s also a potential solution. His return from ankle surgery might give the Knicks the interior presence they desperately need — if he stays healthy. But Robinson’s history suggests caution: two surgeries on the same ankle in less than a year raise concerns about durability.

Outside of Robinson, trade assets are slim: Precious Achiuwa ($6 million), McBride ($4.7 million), and minimum-salary players like Cam Payne and Jericho Sims.

Thibodeau’s options are equally limited. Extend the rotation, and opposing benches — deeper and more talented — will overwhelm the Knicks. Stick with the starters, and they’ll wear down, as they did against the Thunder.

And waiting for Robinson’s return is a gamble. If he’s healthy, the Knicks might have a chance. If not, they’ll find themselves outmatched in the playoffs.

The Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline looms, and the Knicks’ schedule doesn’t get any easier. They’re staring down a gauntlet of playoff contenders ready to feast on a fatigued, undermanned team.

Knicks fans know it, too. The boos were loud and emphatic as the Thunder pulled away at MSG.