Knicks' Tom Thibodeau Explains Immanuel Quickley Benching in Loss vs. Thunder

Immanuel Quickley was playing well, but he was benched in favor of RJ Barrett late in a close game as the New York Knicks lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The New York Knicks are going back to the drawing board after losing 129-120 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Paycom Center.

With 4:07 left in the third quarter, point guard Immanuel Quickley entered the game for Donte DiVincenzo and stayed on the court for the next 12 minutes, spanning both the end of the third quarter and the early part of the fourth. During that span, Quickley scored 12 of his 22 points, reaching at least 20 for the fourth time over the last five games.

But with four minutes to go in regulation, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau subbed out Quickley in favor of RJ Barrett, who had made just 3-of-12 shots up until that point in the game for nine points. Barrett hit 2-of-3 over the final four minutes but lost a turnover through a bad pass shortly after his entry. New York (17-13) was outscored 16-14 over the last four minutes to seal their fate. 

Thibodeau addressed the switch after the game, claiming that Barrett was inserted to counter Oklahoma City's length.

“You’re gonna finish with different guys, and it’s what the game needs," Thibodeau said (h/t Knicks Muse on X). "You're asking guys to sacrifice, because you can only put five out there. (The Thunder) have length with their wings, so you're going to be doing some switching and so you're trying to match up that way."

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The Knicks trailed by seven when the substitution was made, so it's hard to determine whether it was truly the cause for their downfall. It didn't help that two different Oklahomans (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams) each earned 36 points, so the Knicks certainly have bigger issues to analyze moving forward.

Quickley's status will be monitored throughout the rest of the season considering he's set to become a restricted free agent after failing to come to terms on a long-term contract extension over the offseason. The saga continues on Friday night when the Knicks face the Orlando Magic (7 p.m. ET, MSG).