Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau: ‘No right or wrong’ way to distribute minutes

NEW YORK — Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau says there’s “no right or wrong” way to distribute minutes over the course of a season — only what works best for a team given its specific circumstances.

“I think each team is different. I think everybody has to run their own race,” Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. “You look at some teams. Some teams are playing more guys. Some teams are playing less guys. There’s no right or wrong. There’s what you feel is best for your team, what gives you the best chance to have the most success.”

The Knicks, marred by injury in yet another season, are without both their All-Star guard Jalen Brunson and sixth man Miles McBride. Three of their remaining starters — Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby — rank top-six in minutes per game this season.

Bridges leads the league in total minutes by nearly 100, and Hart ranking first in minutes per game and third in total played minutes so far.

Thibodeau said players prepare their bodies over the course of the regular season to be able to endure the grueling stretch leading into the playoffs.

Tuesday was the first leg of four back-to-backs the Knicks will have to weather over their final 12 regular-season games.

“There’s a lot of things that go into it and you go into a season with the understanding of what it’s gonna take for a season,” Thibodeau said. “You have to have a mental discipline to get through all the things that may happen. So you’re trying to build those habits all season long, and there’s a number of different ways you can pace your team.

“So I think oftentimes people will look at minutes played, but they don’t understand what’s going on in practice. They don’t understand what you’re doing in recovery. There’s a lot of things that occur, from — maybe there’s not contact in practice. Maybe a guy has a sub in practice. Maybe a guy is not doing practice. There’s a lot that goes into it. So you lean on your medical people. You lean on the players, and then you have an understanding of what it’s gonna take.”

The Knicks coach pointed to minutes distribution across other playoff contenders when discussing what it will take for his team to finish the season in good shape. It is not uncommon for contending teams to lean heavily on their starters and core rotation players, especially when there’s playoff standing at stake.

“When you look at teams like Denver, what Jokic is doing. What [Kevin] Durant is doing, what [Jayson] Tatum is doing. There’s a lot of guys that are playing 36-37 minutes,” said Thibodeau. “So whatever your team is, you have to trust that there’s an understanding that goes into how to pace a team.”

Pacing will be key for a Knicks team struggling to generate offense with Brunson out of the rotation.

New York is holding onto the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed by a 2.5-game margin and has the sixth-strongest remaining schedule of all 30 NBA teams.

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