Dead-legged Knicks drop 2nd in a row in 139-126 loss to Bulls

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Jan 4, 2025

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If only Pacome Dadiet and Ariel Hukporti were on New York’s bench, and not on G-League assignment with the Westchester Knicks.

Maybe then Tom Thibodeau would have had two extra sets of fresh legs to use in his team’s second leg of a back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

But he didn’t, and for the second game in a row, the Knicks rode a starting unit that ran out of gas in the second half, this time paving the way for a 139-126 loss at the United Center.

After winning nine in a row, the Knicks have lost two straight. To add insult to injury, Karl-Anthony Towns limped off the floor with just 90 seconds left in the fourth quarter after posting a 44-point, 16-rebound stat line.

And a lack of depth outside of the starting five is to blame for this team’s shortcomings, initially exposed by the West’s No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, then exacerbated 24 hours later for a team playing on dead legs.

Further complicating the situation for New York is Miles McBride, the sixth man who missed his third straight game with hamstring tightness on Saturday.

Without McBride, Thibodeau only used three players off the bench: Precious Achiuwa, Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet.

On Friday in Oklahoma City, the three mustered just five points. In Chicago, playing twice as many minutes, the bench scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field — almost three fewer points than their season average of 19.9 points per game, which is by far the worst bench scoring mark in all of basketball.

So it’s clear the Knicks need to improve their second unit. Their payroll, inability to take more salary in than sending out in a trade, and proximity to the second apron hard cap make a good deal difficult to find.

Jalen Brunson scored 33, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby combined for 30 more, and Josh Hart double-doubled with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Hart played 40 minutes for the second consecutive game. He shot 0 of 5 from the field and finished with two points.

Which brings us to Dadiet, while Towns’ injury shifts the focus to Hukporti, Jericho Sims and Mitchell Robinson. McBride’s injury puts a spotlight on Tyler Kolek

The Knicks selected Dadiet with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft because of his potential as a versatile two-way wing who can shoot the ball and flashes the ability to defend multiple positions.

Yet only two other first-round selections in Dadiet’s draft class have seen fewer minutes with the A-Team this season: Boston’s Baylor Scheiermann and Minnesota’s Terrence Shannon Jr.

Dadiet has played 82 total minutes for the Knicks this season. Kolek, taken at pick No. 34, has logged 127 minutes of play in Year 1. And Sims is averaging roughly one minute for every time Thibodeau references him as among the league-leaders in defensive field goal percentage in the restricted area. Hukporti has barely seen the floor since the team converted his two-way contract into a standard NBA deal.

The low minutes for young players is not surprising: The Knicks are top-heavy team contending for a title, and Thibodeau has a history of choosing to ride his veterans and starters over the young players still learning the ropes at the professional level.

Also unsurprising, of course, is the minutes piling across the starting five: Bridges and Hart rank first and second in minutes per game this season. Bridges, Hart and Anunoby rank second, third and fourth in total minutes played behind only Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox.

It wasn’t a good recipe against a Bulls team that ranks atop the league in pace.

Chicago blitzed the Knicks in the third quarter and outscored them, 41-17, coming out of the half.

Zach LaVine and Coby White scored 33 points each, and Nikola Vucevic added 22 points and 12 rebounds.

It’s the second time the Knicks have lost to a Bulls team that plays fast and free, but sits just 10th in the Eastern Conference.

At least the Knicks get a night off before hosting the Magic on Monday. With the starters logging the minutes required to win games this season, they’ll need all the rest they can get.

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