tom thibodeau – The News Desk

Another slow start dooms Knicks, who drop 4th in last 5 with loss to Bulls

6Apr

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Another slow start dooms Knicks, who drop 4th in last 5 with loss to Bulls

CHICAGO — Tom Thibodeau’s hands have to be on fire. There’s a tick under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter of the Knicks’ eventual loss to the Bulls on the same court Thibodeau once coached on in the Windy City, and Thibs is already running low on timeouts. Begrudgingly, two minutes into the third quarter, he would use one more. Miles McBride turned the ball over, and DeMar DeRozan recovered the ball and lobbed a pass up court to a streaking Alex Caruso, whose uncontested layup put the Bulls back up by 15. In his signature fashion, Thibodeau flailed his arms in frustration before calling a timeout. The effort. The defense. The execution. It was all unacceptable. Only 24 hours earlier, the Knicks secured an impressive victory over a Western Conference playoff-bound Sacramento King...

Knicks’ Jalen Brunson injures ankle in garbage time vs. Celtics

BOSTON — The Celtics emptied their bench. Tom Thibodeau did not. It’s the difference between leaving the TD Garden unscathed and potentially returning to New York down the team’s floor general and head of the offensive snake. When given an opportunity to sit his starters in garbage time while Celtics’ coach Joe Mazzulla cleared the bench up double digits with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 133-123 loss on Friday, Thibodeau chose not to. Now Jalen Brunson is hurt. Asked if he has any regrets, Thibodeau flatly said “nope.” Brunson significantly turned his ankle on a freak play while Celtics guard Derrick White shot a free throw with just 21 seconds left on the game clock. Seventeen seconds of gameplay earlier, Mazzulla took Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue H...

Knicks star RJ Barrett (migraine) misses second straight game

ATLANTA — RJ Barrett is still under the weather. The Knicks ruled Barrett out due to a migraine on Wednesday, marking his second straight game out because of an illness and his fourth missed game of the season altogether. “Yeah [he’s] just not feeling well,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Hawks on Wednesday. “[He’s feeling] a little bit better but not feeling well.” Thibodeau said he doesn’t know what spurred the migraine for the fourth-year forward. “If I did, I’d be a doctor,” he joked. “But I don’t know. He’s under the weather.” Thibodeau said reserve forward Josh Hart, who started in place of Barrett in the loss to the Celtics, “could” start in place of Barrett again against the Hawks. Barrett’s absence also likely means more minutes for Donte DiVincenzo...