Kenny Smith dropped a bar on Sunday in his diss of New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau’s Knicks trailed the Indiana Pacers 58-45 at halftime of Eastern Conference Finals Game 3 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
Smith and the rest of the “Inside the NBA” crew weighed in on the Knicks’ chances before the start of the second half. The former Houston Rockets point guard called New York “fortunate” to only be down 13 after trailing by as many as 20 points in the second quarter.
Smith then made a clever comment about Thibodeau’s infamously tight rotation.
“Thibodeau wouldn’t play nine guys in a baseball game,” Smith said of the Knicks coach.
“Thibodeau wouldn’t play nine guys in a baseball game.” 😅 pic.twitter.com/XUAuxAgSN5
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 26, 2025
Smith’s sharp-witted quip impressed the rest of the TNT panel. The crew had to pause just to give Smith some props for coming up with the line.
For basketball die-hards who don’t know the rules of baseball, each team needs to field at least nine players every game.
Thibodeau is notorious for running his top players to the ground instead of relying on his bench. But the veteran coach switched up his strategy as his team stared down a potential 0-3 series deficit.
Knicks forward Josh Hart, who started 77 games for Thibodeau during the regular season, came off the bench in Game 3 and played 34 minutes. Series standout Mitchell Robinson took Hart’s place in the starting lineup.
Thibodeau then benched backup point guard Cameron Payne and mixed in veterans Delon Wright and Landry Shamet into the Knicks’ rotation alongside Deuce McBride. It was just the second time in the postseason that four Knicks bench players saw at least 10 minutes of action. The only other time it happened was over a month ago in Game 1 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Pistons.
The strategy change paid off for the Knicks. The visitors mounted a huge second-half comeback to win 106-100 in front of a stunned crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Perhaps Sunday’s game taught Thibodeau to trust his bullpen more often.
