Jericho Sims: Back in Knicks' Playoff Rotation?

Jericho Sims earned a bit of a promotion during the New York Knicks' Saturday victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

The New York Knicks applied a fresh coat of paint for the paint on Saturday.

A heavier opponent forced a weighty solution for the Knicks, as Jericho Sims earned an expanded role in Saturday's win over the Brooklyn Nets. Sims was on the floor for over 18 minutes in the 105-93 victory, one of his lengthiest entries unaided by injuries in quite some time.

The third-year man has been in and out of the Knicks' rotation all season, recently relied upon while Isaiah Hartenstein recovered from a sore Achilles. New York recently appeared to show a preference for using newcomer Precious Achiuwa but Sims made his prescience felt against the Nets: he was kept off the scoreboard but hauled in seven rebounds and the Knicks were plus-5 on the scoreboard when he was on the floor. As a result, Achuiwa played just over seven minutes, the first time he played less than 10 since Jan. 18.

Perhaps looking to avoid any form of non-medical roster controversy, head coach Tom Thibodeau hinted that the Nets' size and physicality led to an improvised roster switch.

Mar 10, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Jericho Sims (45) warms up before a

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

“I thought the physicality was what we needed, and so that’s the only reason why we did that," Thibodeau said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "Whoever’s got it going, that’s where we’re going. Some nights it’s not your night, it’s someone else’s night and then you put the team first. Everyone sacrifices and that’s really what we’ve done all year.” 

Sims knows how fleeting and fickle a spot in the Knicks' rotation can be: between Feb. 12 and March 10, he averaged over 24 minutes a game while the team worked Hartenstein back into the set. He's been in and out of the conversation in each of his first two-plus seasons and things will probably only get more congested if and when Mitchell Robinson is back at full strength.

Like Robinson, Sims is part of a dying breed in the NBA in that he's a traditional center called upon to mostly camp in the paint to box out, rebound, and maybe throw around his body a time or two. Something like could certainly come in handy when the Knicks are feeling uncomfortable about their rebounding situation: New York lost the board battle on Thursday in Denver and are now 3-11 in such situations. Regularly scheduled rebound programming was restored on Saturday, with the Knicks owning a plus-6 advantage. Sims was the third-leading rebounder on the Knicks' side, behind Josh Hart (13) and Isaiah Hartenstein (9).

Sims' next chance to carve a role for himself lands on Monday when the Knicks face the Detroit Pistons at home (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).