Miles McBride Plays Key Knicks Role

The New York Knicks' Achilles heel in the playoffs from the last two years has been the team's lack of depth.

Tom Thibodeau often relies on his five starters more than any other coach in the league to get the job done in the postseason, but this year for the Knicks, he may not need to do that as much.

Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes emphasizes how important Miles McBride is to the Knicks for coming off of the bench.

"Head coach Tom Thibodeau isn't known for leaning on his bench," Hughes writes. "That McBride is on track to log over 1,500 minutes as a reserve speaks to the backup guard's effectiveness. A rugged defender who changed several games with his three-point shooting, McBride, who went down with a groin injury on March 20, is averaging a career-high 9.4 points to go along with 2.9 assists and 1.8 made treys per contest."

McBride has been one of the better bench players in the entire league this season, and he has earned Thibodeau's trust to play key minutes for the team during the playoffs.

If the Knicks are going to make it further than they did last year and qualify for their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, they are going to need McBride to step up when coming off of the bench.

Having McBride eat up minutes in the earlier games of the playoffs could help the Knicks have more stamina for the games in the second round and beyond. The Knicks fell apart at the seams when it came to injuries last season, and if they don't want to suffer the same fate this time around, having McBride play a large amount of minutes will be key.