The Knicks fell to the Thunder Wednesday night despite a comeback that included an Immanuel Quickley 3-pointer to pull New York within six with less than seven minutes to go in the game, just before he was pulled in favor of RJ Barrett.
Oklahoma City pulled away shortly after, but many fans were frustrated with the substitution given Quickley’s strong play and Barrett’s shooting struggles. Quickley shot 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown en route to 22 points off the bench, while Barrett shot just 5-for-14 from the field and a miserable 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Tom Thibodeau explained the decision after the game, noting the size of the Thunder necessitating the taller Barrett over Quickley.
“You're gonna finish with different guys and it's what the game needs,” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes it's matchups, sometimes someone's got it going, sometimes you need size, you're looking at the switching you’re doing, and you're asking guys to sacrifice because you can only put five out there. that’s the way you roll with it. We need everyone. We need everyone to play well. So that’s what we did.
“They have length with their wings, so you're gonna be doing some switching, so you're trying to match up that way.”
Quickley’s minutes have been a talking point for much of the season so far, after he and the Knicks failed to come to terms on an extension.
The 24-year-old has been one of the best bench players in the NBA this season while boasting the best defensive rating on the team, yet is averaging five less minutes per game than last season. Thibodeau says it simply comes down to having so many rotation players and so little time.
“Quick has done a great job,” Thibodeau said. “Donte [DiVincenco] has done a great job. Quentin [Grimes] I thought played well tonight…that’s the challenge. We have good players. It’s easy to sit there and say ‘Well, this guy should have played more,’ and you can certainly make a case for people because we’ve been playing well. That’s a natural question. But who are you taking out? You can’t just keep adding without taking out.”