What was Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau thinking by not getting Jalen Brunson back into Game 5?
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau looks on in the second quarter during Game 5 of the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
DETROIT - What was Tom Thibodeau thinking?
The morning after the bizarre, chaotic ending of the Knicks’ Game 5 loss to the Detroit Pistons, this continued to be what all Knicks fans wanted to know.
Why, as precious seconds ticked away down the stretch, did Thibodeau not do something to get Jalen Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, back in the game? Why did he not notice the confused look on the faces of Brunson and Josh Hart as they waited a full 90 seconds of game time in front of the scorer’s table to check back in? Why did Thibodeau desperately cling to his final timeout, a decision that would turn his most available life raft into an anchor that would drag the team down?
I’m not sure that the Knicks wouldn’t be playing in a Game 6 in Detroit Thursday night anyway, instead of starting to prepare for a conference semifinal series against Boston, if Thibodeau had used his timeout earlier. But the sight of Brunson stranded on the sideline as the game slipped away was so bizarre that it will become the defining moment of this series if the Knicks don’t advance to the next round.
Let’s start with a review of the situation:
The Knicks entered the final three minutes of the game with two timeouts. Thibodeau used the first with 2:57 left after Brunson tweaked his right ankle and Hart tumbled hard to the floor, replacing them with Deuce McBride and Cam Payne. At that point, the Pistons led, 97-95.
Hart went to the locker room and Brunson limped to the bench. A minute later, with the Knicks trailing by six after a Cade Cunningham bucket with 1:57 left made the score 101-95, both walked back to the scorer’s table, waiting to check in.
They waited. They waited. And they waited.
The Knicks did not have a foul to give to stop the clock. Hart could be seen looking at the bench several times to see if someone was going to do something. After multiple frustrating Knicks’ possessions and no stoppage in play, Thibodeau finally used his timeout with 27.1 seconds left and the Knicks down six.
That proved to be too late for even Brunson to pull off a miracle and the Knicks found themselves heading back to Detroit.
So, what was Thibodeau thinking? His explanation after the game was less than adequate for many Knicks fans.
Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco, left, reacts during a mound visit with catcher Austin Wells, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Baltimore. Credit: AP/Stephanie Scarbrough
“Just, coach’s decision,” Thibodeau said before adding, “you look at the time, score, penalty, timeouts, all of the above, what’s happening in the game. The next possession, we’re weighing — there’s a lot that goes into it.”
I’m sure there was, but Thibodeau could have opened up more. He could have said he gambled and blew it. He could have said he thought he was doing the best thing in the moment, but in retrospect waited too long. He could have said that it isn’t always easy managing the court time of Brunson, who is playing great but has had to leave the court multiple times this series, presumably to deal with his injured ankle.
Thibodeau could have given some sort of explanation that would have opened a window into his thinking and maybe elicited a bit of empathy from Knicks fans.
But that’s not who Thibodeau is. I’ve covered teams that Thibodeau has coached for years. He is smart, works harder than anyone and has a dry sense of humor. He is also incredibly private, preferring to let his players take center stage. Unlike Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, Thibodeau is not going to entertain reporters with stories about how his kids don’t listen to him or what it was like to grow up with a famous coach for a father.
Fans really don’t know Thibodeau, which is one reason why he’s an easy target. It’s one reason it’s easy to join in the tired narrative about how he fails to develop his bench and causes injuries to his starters by playing them too many minutes. It’s easy to blame him for the Knicks’ shortcomings, rather than talk about how he has his team on the verge of going to the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year, something that hasn’t happened since the 1999-2000 season.
Thibodeau’s failure to use his timeout earlier in Game 5 was not the only reason, or the main reason, that the Knicks lost that game. There was plenty of blame to go around. Mikal Bridges started the game 1-for-7 before making big shots in the final quarter. Brunson, when he was on the court, had his worst game of the series. And Cunningham came up big in the final quarter for the Pistons.
The Knicks’ challenge now is to get past that game and get past the image of Brunson and Hart standing helplessly on the sideline.
And then, it would be nice to hear what the coach is thinking.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
