Knicks’ coach Tom Thibodeau is on the ‘hot seat’ entering Celtics series, analyst says
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson talks to head coach Tom Thibodeau in the second half of Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sunday, April 23, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Knicks won 102-93. “No. 1, Tom Thibodeau is on the hot seat,” Kendrick Perkins, who won an NBA title with the Celtics in 2008 but has become a big fan ofHe added: “This better go to seven games, I believe it will. I got Boston picked to win in seven, but I think the Knicks will push them to seven and the Knicks actually got a shot to win this series.” Last summer, Thibodeau and the franchise agreed to a three-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2027-28 season.Boston is 20-4 in the NBA playoffs the last two seasons, and is 9-1 against the Knicks in their last 10 games. The Celtics swept the Knicks 4-0 this season by a combined 65 points. “Well, I think every series is different, every game is different,” Thibodeau said Sunday before the Knicks left for Boston. “So each game teaches you something. But the challenge, I think, of the playoffs, is to reset after every game. There’s a lot of emotional highs and lows. You have to navigate all that. You gotta get through that. Then you gotta reset, and you got to get ready for the next one. You take them one by one.” Brunson, the Knicks’ captain and emotional leader, is a big supporter of Thibodeau’s and it would probably take the Knicks getting absolutely blown out in all four games for the coach to be fired.. “I say he’s meant a decent amount to KAT with coaching KAT at. Minnesota and here. There’s a lot of players who can say they’ve definitely benefited from Tom Thibodeau in his career but I think as a team we’re always in a position where we can compete in the postseason since I’ve been here and he’s a very prepared individual.Still, the odds are stacked against Thibodeau and the Knicks. Boston has nobody on the injury report, meaning Jrue Holiday will likely match up with Brunson for much of the series. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown are all ready to go. The Knicks gave up 21 3-pointers a game to the Celtics during the regular season, when Jayson Tatum averaged 34 points against them. The Orlando Magic were able to limit Boston to 31 3-point attempts per game in their series after the Celtics took 48 per game during the regular season. The Knicks hope to take a page out of Orlando’s book. “That’s the challenge,” Thibodeau said. “They did a good job in that series, but a lot of weapons.”“They can’t have that out of him,” Perkins said. “He was guarded by Tobias Harris majority of the series. Even his best two games were 22 points and 10 rebounds average. That can’t happen. “Karl-Anthony Towns needs to be 30 and 15, and he could do it. We saw it last year when he out-played Jokic in the semifinals in the West. “At some point, Tom Thibodeau’s going to have to challenge him....Karl-Anthony Towns on both ends of the floor has to show up and show out and with help of Tom Thibodeau putting him in position to do that.” Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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