With just nine games remaining in the regular season, starting with a four-game road trip that begins tonight versus the Charlotte Hornets, Knicks head coach Mike Brown has judiciously utilized his bench. It has been both strategic and out of necessity as injuries are an unavoidable aspect of every team’s journey.
For Brown and the Knicks, an expanded bench has served dual purposes: preserving the starters’ bodies during the long seven-month regular season and developing young players such as 20-year-old rookie forward Mohamed Diawara.
After the Knicks’ 121-116 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, which put them at 48-25, no player on the roster averaged more than 35 minutes per game. Jalen Brunson leads the team at 34.9 minutes and Karl-Anthony Towns is logging 31. Last season, all five starters — Brunson, Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — averaged over 35 minutes per game. Only seven Knicks averaged 16 minutes or more. This season 10 Knicks players are averaging at least 16 minutes per game and second-year guard Tyler Kolek is at a full quarter (11.9) in 58 games played.
The value of sound minutes distribution is embodied by the performance of Jordan Clarkson, who in the absence of guard Miles “Deuce” McBride (working his way back from sports hernia surgery performed on Feb. 6) and guard Landry Shamet, has been an integral member of the rotation. On the season, Clarkson, who was signed to a one-year, $3.6 million veteran’s minimum contract last July after playing for the Utah Jazz the previous five years, has appeared in 63 games for the Knicks.
He is averaging 18.2 minutes per game and over his previous five games, the 33-year-old Clarkson has posted 10.2 points in 21.6 minutes.
“He’s giving it to us defensively and and he’s giving it to us offensively,” Brown said of Clarkson on Tuesday. “…His ability to make timely cuts and finish in the painted area is a lot of fun to watch. It just adds another dimension to what we’re trying to do.”