The New York Knicks stormed back from a 20-point halftime deficit to force overtime and subsequently attained a 108-105 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Monday night. The team leveraged strong play from Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns in the victory while also gaining contributions from athletes off the bench such as Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau has been criticized for the limited amount of time he plays his reserves compared to other teams in the Association, one commentary on which occurred on Tuesday morning’s edition of UnSportsmanLike on ESPN Radio with Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon.
One of the callers who phoned the show called for Thibodeau to be fired no matter what occurs in the playoffs going forward, emphasizing that he is sick of the 6-on-5 play from the Knicks against their opponents. This resulted in Cohen putting things into perspective and ostensibly expressing his surprise at someone offering such an opinion at this time.
“You are calling our show today, which thank you, and you’re watching, thank you,” Cohen said, “and your take today after the Knicks beat the Celtics in overtime after being down 20 is that they should fire Tom Thibodeau?”
The caller affirmed his point and considered that Robinson has some kind of dirt on Thibodeau since he remains in the game. Furthermore, he talked about how the Knicks have a bench that Thibodeau refuses to lose and claimed that it almost cost the Knicks the first game of the series. Cohen replied by articulating that the team was down 20 points and that Robinson was playing because of Towns picking up five fouls and that he is a 7-foot defensive player.
“I have to say, I love our UnSportsmanLike community because they always make me think,” Smallmon added. “Never once did I think that we would hear, ‘Tom Thibodeau should be fired’ today.”
“I mean, in general, has that conversation happened?,” Cohen questioned. Yeah. Today?”
“Today of all days?,” Smallmon replied. “Knicks taking Game 1 in Boston versus a team that swept them in the regular season, the defending champs when they were down 20 and KAT was in foul trouble. Did not think that Thibs would be on the hot seat today.”
