PORTLAND — After Mikal Bridges claimed he asked Tom Thibodeau to reduce his minutes, the coach denied such a conversation took place as controversy emerged Wednesday in Knicks world over playing time.
Bridges, the NBA’s iron man and minutes leader, said after the morning shootaround that he talked with Thibodeau about giving the bench a deserving opportunity, a proposal that would mean a lesser load on Bridges.
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” the guard said before hitting the OT winner at the buzzer in a 114-113 win over Portland. “But you want that as a coach, and also talked to him a little bit knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48 [minutes], 47.?
“We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there.”
Asked how Thibodeau responded to their talk, Bridges said, “I think he’s not arguing about it. Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways and he gets locked in. He just wants to keep the guy out there. Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, like Landry [Shamet], for example, or somebody [else], keep him out there, they’re playing well.”
Hours later, however, Thibodeau countered, “We never had a conversation about it.”
The coach then launched into an animated defense of his minutes distribution, noting that Jalen Brunson is just 19th in average minutes while Karl-Anthony Towns is 23rd.
Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Bridges are all in the top six.
“The facts are the facts: Your wings play more. So they’re matched up with primary scorers,” Thibodeau said. “So the way it works is if Jayson Tatum is in the game and Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game.
“Try to keep the matchups. When you look at the league, all those guys are playing 35, 36 minutes — whether it’s [Kevin] Durant, Tatum or a Brown. A wing is going to play more. They’re primary wing defenders. That’s the way the league works.”
Hart, who led the NBA in average minutes before Monday, “never wants to come out of the game,” Thibodeau added.
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Bridges’ minutes had been reduced recently, dropping to 35.5 per game in the past 20 heading into Wednesday against the Trail Blazers.
Part of that, as Thibodeau noted, was because Shamet, Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson got healthy.
Bridges is the poster player for durability, with the NBA’s longest consecutive games streak and this season’s leader in total minutes. But the 28-year-old said the workload isn’t easy.
“I think it’s something you never really get used to,” Bridges said. “Your body is going to feel how it is every year. But I’ve been a part of it for a while, knowing how to take care of my body through those situations and just trying to do as much as I can.”
Thibodeau’s minutes distribution has long been a hot-button issue, as he’s been accused of overworking players to the detriment of their health.
The latest accusation came from Channing Frye, the former Knick turned NBA TV analyst who blamed the coach for injuries.
Heading into Wednesday, Brunson was the only injured Knicks starter, with a sprained ankle.
“[Frye] doesn’t even understand our team,” Thibodeau said.
Bridges, who was acquired by the Knicks in the summer for five first-round draft picks, has endured a roller-coaster season with dips in his production from his last season with the Nets.
“I think there’s a lot more [I can still show],” Bridges said. “I think — that goes in within it a lot. Things that are systematic or our schemes offensively and stuff — just trying to find the right situations. And trying to make the right read every time I get a chance.”
The Knicks entered Wednesday near the bottom of the NBA in bench points — at least partially a product of the starters eating up so many minutes.
Still, the reserves enjoyed an uptick in production recently with Robinson and Shamet getting comfortable.
“We’ve started the season with Landry hurt and Deuce [McBride] not 100 percent. So our wings did play more,” Thibodeau said. “So are they playing a little bit more than I would like? Yeah. Probably 35 or 36, and that’s where Mikal is if you look at the last 10 games — he’s playing 35 minutes per game and four of those games are overtime games. So that’s the reality. Now that Deuce is healthy, those minutes are going to come down. So that’s the way it is.”
