The Jericho Sims – Isaiah Hartenstein pair, symbol of Tom Thibodeau’s paid bet

On December 9, when the Knicks easily won their game on the Hornets floor to earn a third victory in a row, Obi Toppin was leaving the Knicks’ rotation.

Victim of a fractured right fibula, the 24-year-old winger was announced absent for two to three weeks. Leaving then a question hovering in the minds of fans of the “Big Apple” franchise: what fallback solution to replace the minutes of the former Dayton until the end of the month (17 minutes)?

RJ Barrettas Tom Thibodeau implied it? The default returns of Cam Reddish orEvan Fournier in rotation? In any case, the solution seemed to be to tinker by temporarily shifting an exterior to position 4.

What was less predictable, however, was that the Knicks coach chose to replace the minutes of the lining of Julius Randle on the position of strong winger by… a pivot.

Because for five games, the duration of Obi Toppin’s absence, the internal rotation of the Knicks off the bench effectively consists of an association of two pure pivots: jericho sims and Isaiah Hartenstein.

In the rotation of “Thibs” shortened to nine players for two weeks now, the two pivots are accompanied by two leaders, Immanuel Quickley and Miles McBride, in the “second unit”. A very powerful quartet defensively, the two leaders being good defenders on the man, and the two pivots proving to be a formidable pair in this area, in their own half of the field.

It’s no coincidence that the Knicks, collectively, have the league’s best defensive rating over the duration of their current eight-game winning streak, fueled by this change in rotation.

” I like their association » declared on this subject the technician of the Knicks, which finally seems to have found the winning formula. ” It gives us a rebound advantage, and a size advantage. And we can be more physical than the opponent. »

A particle accelerator for the attack

But even more than the defensive volume that this improbable pair brings (35 defensive rebounds captured on average by the Knicks since the establishment of their association, over the last five games), it is their impact on the attack that makes the difference lately for the Knicks.

The figures actually go in this direction: in New York’s last five games, all played (and obviously won) without Obi Toppin and therefore with this “tall-ball” racket off the bench, the Knicks have won each time the battle for the offensive rebound, averaging 14.6 catches per game, and a +8.2 differential in the field compared to their opponents. Exceeding the 45% shooting success mark four times in these five games.

In other words, there has been an extremely positive butterfly effect for the Knicks lately, when Jericho Sims and Isaiah Hartenstein are on the field together, taking over from Mitchell Robinson: the more they are aligned together, the more offensive rebounds they capture and the more the New York’s attack is improved.

” I think [Mitchell Robinson]Jericho [Sims] and I are probably the best offensive rebounders in the league right now even advanced Isaiah Hartenstein. ” We complement each other, it’s very good. »

So much so that we come to wonder if Obi Toppin, on his return from injury, will be able to shake up this new rotation which has been wreaking havoc in the four corners of the league for eight games now…