Knicks Fans Furious With Tom Thibodeau's Substitutions in Game 3 vs. Pacers

Thibs made some interesting decisions in the first half.

Fans weren't happy with Thibs on Sunday night. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks entered Sunday night's contest against the Indiana Pacers with their backs against the wall. Down 2–0 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals series, they desperately need a win if they want to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1999.

Even still, head coach Tom Thibodeau—normally known for playing his stars to the brink no matter the circumstance—decided to toy with New York's lineup quite a bit in the first half. Not only did they opt to start Mitchell Robinson over Josh Hart, but at one point, the Knicks had both Delon White and Landry Shamet on the floor at the same time. For context, neither guard played a single minute in the team's Game 2 loss on Friday.

Naturally, with all of the lineup fluctuation in what just about everyone would consider a must-win game, fans were furious with Thibs—and took their frusrations out across social media. Here's a look at some of the best reactions across X (formerly Twitter):

Thibs is legitimately playing a prank on us.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS LINEUP AND HOW ARE THEY STILL IN. https://t.co/xCIpsXVPI6

— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) May 26, 2025

Delon Wright minutes in a pivotal Game 3 after not playing since God knows when lmao we might be watching Thibs final moments as Knicks Head Coach 💀

— ♕𝕕𝕒𝕧𝕠𓅓 (@shpillo_) May 26, 2025

Granny stays in the cage until Thibs is fired pic.twitter.com/CSVrsqTqD7

— 🦉 (@kat_wrld) May 26, 2025

Fire Thibs at halftime

— Aura Farmer 🫵🏾 (@Less_HumbleTeej) May 26, 2025

How Thibs looking on the sidelines rn pic.twitter.com/PRJp2vqfYU

— OKC enthusiasts (@okcenthusiasts) May 26, 2025

Not enough people are talking about how bad Brunson and KAT are on defense and how Thibs is just watching the switch damn near every possesion

— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) May 26, 2025

thibs on the sideline while pacers go on 13-0 run pic.twitter.com/fRfXUlYZAa

— Devin Walker (@Devin_Walker2) May 26, 2025

Thibs waiting till Knicks down 10 with 2 minutes left to sub KAT in pic.twitter.com/5x0h6TX6T6

— ♕𝕕𝕒𝕧𝕠𓅓 (@shpillo_) May 24, 2025

New York enter the second half of Sunday's contest down 58–45 from Indiana's Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Jalen Brunson is leading the way with a team-high 11 points.

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