Knicks' Long Rest Is About More Than Just the Days Off

The New York Knicks will be well rested during the Conference Finals

The Knicks' week of rest means more than just a break. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

All we heard heading into the Knicks’ semifinal matchup with the 76ers was how they’d have a decidedly important rest advantage in Game 1 following the Sixers needing seven games to vanquish Boston.

New York and its spryer legs won the series opener 137-98. In fairness, Sixers starters logged 251 minutes in the first round, which was most among all playoff teams. Their starters were out of gas and their bench was non-existent, a classic Knicks problem in recent years under coach Tom Thibodeau.

The series wasn’t a historic sweep thanks to the Knicks having less tread on their tires. But it certainly didn’t hurt.

Now it’s almost unfair how much time off coach Mike Brown’s team will have due to dispatching Philly in four quick games. This comes with it seeming likely that Cleveland and Detroit will beat each other up for three more games.

The payoff of the Knicks' long layoff adds up in more ways than just recovery time

If Cavs-Pistons goes seven, the Knicks will have as many days off between the second round and Conference Finals as they did for the All-Star Break (eight days). The Knicks would go a full nine days in between games if things kick off next Tuesday, May 19.

Regardless of who wins or if the series goes the distance, the Knicks will be facing a team that will have played seven games in round one and at least six in round two. The longer things drag out, the more time OG Anunoby’s hamstring gets to recover. The more time to practice and for Brown to create a game plan.

There should be no concern when it comes to the rest versus rust debate. As per Jared Schwartz of the NY Post, there have been 201 instances of teams having five or more days of rest in between series. In Game 1's, those teams are 113-88. For the whole series, those teams are 124-77.

Knicks forward OG Anunoby can now get healthy with this break. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

It's funny, after all the minutes police talk under Thibodeau, how little the Knicks' starters will be taxed heading into the stretch run. Part of which is related to Brown being more distributive with his minutes.

Another reason is thanks to these blowouts. Amazingly, during the past two elimination games, the starters haven’t even had to play a second in the fourth quarter.

To put the lesser toll into context, here are the starters minutes allotment during the opening two rounds last year compared to now: Jalen Brunson: 470 → 347 (-123), Mikal Bridges: 478 → 293 (-185), Josh Hart: 445 → 339 (-106), Karl-Anthony Towns: 427 → 285 (-142) and Anunoby: 479 → 282 (-197).

Last season, the heavy starter minutes led to that unit getting predictable, even turning into a negative lineup by the end of the year. The group played a league-leading 940 minutes together. That dropped to 541 this year, per NBA.com. There was also a noticeable fatigue both physical and mental from going all-in game-after-game during the long regular season grind.

A fresher team was part of the sell with Mike Brown

Once again, Thibodeau played the starters a colossal number of minutes, part of which was related to the lack of bench options made available to him by the front office. Mitchell Robinson missed 65 games, Miles McBride missed 18 games, and they were without Precious Achiuwa for 25 games. There was also little faith shown in Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet and Delon Wright.

All New York's starters finished the season averaging at least 35 minutes per game. With Hart leading the league at 37.6 minutes per game and Bridges leading the NBA in total minutes played with 3,036. That number was 2,692 this year, which equates to roughly 10.5 games less of wear and tear when factoring in his season average of 32.8 minutes.

It was a breath of fresh air seeing Brown be less reliant on big minutes from his starters. He entrusted sizable roles to Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado. Every single player, down to two-way guys Kevin McCullar Jr and Trey Jemison III, made contributions. Youngsters Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti and Mohammad Diawara saw serious run.

The Knicks were always playing the long game. Now the end game is here and there's no excuse for them not to be the Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals. Especially not because of tired legs.