DALLAS — New York head coach Mike Brown is playing the long game, but it’s paying off now.
Tune into a tightly-contested Knicks game and you might see them closing with Josh Hart. Maybe you’ll see Landry Shamet out there. Or Miles McBride even. Jordan Clarkson might sneak his way onto the floor, as well. Two of these names could be out there together with the game on the line.
New York, when healthy, can confidently go nine deep. Look no further than Wednesday night’s 113-111 win over the Mavericks. It was Hart who won nearly every 50-50 ball down the stretch. It was Shamet whose two late 3s and on-ball defense allowed New York to secure its first road win of the season. That might not have happened if Miles McBride didn’t hit 3 after 3 when Jalen Brunson, who returned from an ankle injury and scored 28 points, needed a breather. Clarkson, aside from Brunson, was one of only three Knicks who could put the ball in the basket in the first half.
Brown is allowing his players to build confidence in the middle of November. In turn, he’s learning who he can trust, all with the hopes it’ll pay off in April and beyond.
“It’s so early in the season, the reality of it is that I don’t want to gas my guys this early in the season,” Brown said. “If the minutes can be respectable across the board, especially at this time of the year, then we can increase the minutes come playoff time or late in the season. Getting these guys reps in case (*knocks on wood*) someone gets hurt or in case we have to throw someone in the game. There is a comfort level that they have, and not only that they have, but I have, the staff has and everybody else has with someone new on the floor.”
The Knicks (9-5) have 10 players who have played in at least eight games this season (Mitchell Robinson started the year on a “load management” plan and isn’t playing in back-to-back games) and average a minimum of 10 minutes per game. Last season, of players who played in at least 57 percent of the Knicks’ games, nine averaged 10-or-more minutes. That’s a subtle difference, of course, but the optics go beyond that.
A year ago, when New York was in crunch time, we all knew who would be on the floor. It was Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Hart. It wasn’t a secret. This season, it’s a little less predictable. Brown isn’t afraid to ride the hot hand. He’s also not afraid to sit the cold one, even if that’s a starter. Brown has dared to experiment in November so he can have a better understanding of who he can trust come the spring.
“These are building blocks and stuff we have to work on now,” said Brunson, who missed New York’s previous two games. “The quicker we get better at it, the better it’ll be for us in the long run. We have to continue to stay focused in these situations and have fun with them. It’s not pressure. This is stuff we work on, stuff we do. Let’s go out and do it.”
What a last seven days for Shamet, huh? The veteran guard who has spent the last two seasons on a non-guaranteed deal has been the bench player Brown taps when a starting wing like Anunoby, who has missed the Knicks’ previous two games, is out. Shamet had a career-high 36 points off the bench last Friday. On Wednesday, starting his second game in a row, he was arguably the Knicks’ best on-ball defender and hit two big shots late to help them shimmy out of what would have been their worst loss of the season.
Then there’s Hart, who played the second most minutes in the entire NBA last season. He’s now coming off the bench and finds himself playing anywhere from 27-to-30 minutes on most night. He still does what he does, which is bring a different rhythm to a game, win in the margins and play connector.
Josh Hart’s minutes are down this season as he comes off the bench but he’s still been a major contributor. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
McBride has been one of the team’s best 3-point shooters this seasons. He’s got a few big shots to his name. The same goes for Clarkson, who is on a veteran-minimum deal. Guerschon Yabusele, who the Knicks signed with their midlevel exception this summer, is still finding his way, but if you just flip his salary with Clarkson’s in your head then you feel better about how his start of the season has gone.
New York is, more often than not, getting contributions from essentially everyone it throws out on the floor. The bench players continuously fit in seamlessly with the starters when the two are blended together.
The Knicks have a lot of work to do to be NBA title contenders, but the production from the bench — which ranked 30th in points and minutes a season ago but is currently sitting at 18th in points and 20th in minutes — and the willingness to have some trial and error is a step in the right direction.
Trust, indeed, goes a long way.
“Having moments and situations throughout the year … we’re going to need all of us,” Shamet said. “Whether it’s in a few weeks or now during this stretch when we’re a little banged up, down the line. Having situations where we can have some game reps, that’s invaluable. We appreciate it.”