Craig Carton is ready to flush the Knicks' game two blowout loss and get ready for game three, but the one part about that defeat that he can't get past is the coaching decisions down the stretch.
Mainly, the decision by Tom Thibodeau to play Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson in garbage time when the game was already decided.
"We'll have to walk through why Tom Thibodeau decided to risk Julius Randle's playoff future by keeping him in for a 20-plus point blowout with less than three minutes to go," Craig said. "It's mind boggling and stupid."
Randle, recently back from an ankle sprain that cost him the final five games of the regular season, nearly hurt himself again when he was hit on a dunk by Jarrett Allen and fell to the ground, a play that resulted in a flagrant foul on Allen. The foul occurred with just over two minutes to go, and Craig couldn't figure out why Thibodeau still had Randle out there to begin with, especially considering what happened to his star player as coach of the Bulls more than a decade ago.
"Tom Thibodeau did the same damn thing with Derrick Rose years ago, and he tore his ACL," Craig said, noting Rose injuring his knee in the playoffs with Chicago down by 12 and less than a minute left in the game. "And that was a wrap. Why risk it?"
Evan pointed out that Thibodeau told reporters after the game that he wanted to take Randle out, but Randle wanted to log more playing time to further find his rhythm after missing five games. But Craig said the coach has to step in in that situation.
"You gotta figure he has some level of sensitivity to have lived through that before," Craig said. "Julius Randle is playing in his second game since his injury. I have total respect for Julius Randle wanting to be out there…I love it. But there has to be an adult in the room."
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