On December 30, Beijing time, the NBA had a very strange game! In the Knicks' 94-85 away win over the Pistons, all the Knicks starters didn't get any 1 second of playing time throughout the fourth quarter because their performances were so bad! At the same time, because the performance of the substitutes was too good, Thibodeau used such a set of substitute lineups to complete the reversal in the fourth quarter!
Throughout the game, the Knicks' five starters Barrett scored 15 points, becoming the only starter in double-figures. In addition, Randall 5 points, Robinson 7 points, Walker 2 points, Grimes 0 points, a total of 29 points! And substitute Burks single-handedly blasted down 34 points! In addition, Quickley scored 18 points, Topping 9 points, and 5 substitutes scored a total of 65 points!
What is even more exaggerated is the positive and negative values! The plus-minus for the 5 starters is -29, -27, -22, -21 and -17! The plus-minus for the 5 benches is McBride +39, Topping +36, Gibson +31, Quickley +27, And Burks +28! In the fourth quarter, with the Knicks full bench, they played the Pistons a 30-14 to reverse the game in one fell swoop!
No wonder Thibodeau didn't let the main players play even 1 second in the fourth quarter, their performance was so bad. If the substitutes hadn't filled the hole for them, they would have been sprayed by Thibodeau after the game. Plus plus-minus, the main force lost 116 points, while the substitutes won 161 points, in contrast, the main force should really feel ashamed!
This game is also reminiscent of the 6th game of the Rockets and Clippers playoffs that year! Then Rockets coach McHale abandoned the main player Harden in a desperate situation, and as a result, Josh Smith and others led the Rockets to complete an earth-shattering reversal! The importance and drama of this game is not as high as that one, but from the comparison between the bench and the starting point alone, it is not at all lost that game.