The hallmark of a Tom Thibodeau-coached team isn’t a drive-and-kick offense, nor is it isolation scoring, despite both prominently featured in this year’s Knicks team.
The hallmark of a Thibodeau team is mental toughness. All other things equal, it can decide a game, a season, a series.
Mental toughness, however strong, cannot compensate for a lack of bodies, and a strong-willed Knicks team fought hard but fell short, 115-92 against a Western Conference playoff-contending New Orleans Pelicans squad at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
It was the second leg of a back-to-back for the Knicks, who had been without Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder), OG Anunoby (right elbow surgery) and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle surgery) long before another blow to the rotation the morning of tipoff against New Orleans.
The Knicks list both Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein as questionable against the Pelicans in the morning before head coach Tom Thibodeau declared both out an hour and 45 minutes ahead of tip time on Tuesday.
Brunson sat with what the team listed on the injury report as cervical neck spasms after taking hits in Monday’s gift of a win against the Pistons.
“He took some hits in the game,” Thibodeau said pregame. “When he woke up this morning he had some spasms.
“He tried. He went through a bunch of treatments and stuff, so we tried to see where he was and just didn’t feel good about it.”
Hartenstein missed his sixth game of the season with left Achilles tendinopathy, a bout of tightness/soreness in likely need of season-long monitoring.
In the second leg of a back-to-back, the Knicks decided to give their starting center the night off.
“Just where we are in the season we thought the smart thing was take tonight off, get rest, do your recovery. That’s where we are with that,” said Thibodeau. “[He] came in and we knew it would be limited. We wanted to see where he was.
“Where we are right now it’s better — he’s ramping things up again. That’s where we are with that.”
The late scratches left the Knicks without four starters and their fill-in starting center.
Thibodeau started Miles McBride, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims against the Pelicans on Tuesday.
And for a while, it looked like the Knicks were going to sneak a victory over a talented Pelicans team without starting point guard CJ McCollum.
New Orleans head coach Willie Green warned ahead of tipoff his team needed to take the shorthanded Knicks seriously, noting Brunson and Hartenstein being ruled out doesn’t impact how he game plans for New York.
“It really doesn’t. You guys have been watching the Knicks all season. They play hard no matter who touches the floor for them,” said Green. “They rebound the ball on both ends and they try to get out int transition, so they have a style they’re going to play no matter who it is. We have to defensive rebound against this team, that way we can get out into the open floor.”
From his words to Thibs’ ears: The Knicks entered the half down just one, trailing 48-47 without most of their recognizable players.
The Pelicans blew the game open in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Knicks by TK to secure a blowout victory.
Donte DiVincenzo led the Knicks with 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting from downtown. Josh Hart added 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 points off the bench, but shot 6-of-14 from the field to get there.
Three players scored 20 or more for the Pelicans: Trey Murphy (26 points), Brandon Ingram (24 points, 9-of-18 shooting), and Zion Williamson, who finished with 21 points and six turnovers on the night.
The Knicks now get a day of rest before hosting Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
If Brunson and Hartenstein cannot go, Thursday’s result could mirror Tuesday’s.
