Knicks win ninth straight, but starters' workload a concern

The Knicks won their ninth straight game Wednesday night in a 119-103 blowout of the Jazz. The victory also marked New York's 14th in its last 16 games.

Despite the recent hot streak, Knicks fans should be quietly concerned about the starters' workload. On Wednesday, three starters clocked more than 40 minutes — Mikal Bridges (44), Joh Hart (45) and OG Anunoby (41) — and Karl-Anthony Towns played 37 minutes. 

One can understand if the game was against conference rivals such as the Celtics, Cavaliers or even the Bucks, but should the Knicks be playing their starters so extensively against the 7-25 Jazz? Especially in early January?

As is well documented, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau has a notorious reputation for running his starters into the ground. The Knicks were left with only six rotational players by the end of their playoff series against the Pacers last year, with Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and other key players sidelined with injuries.  

Like clockwork, Thibodeau is again putting his starters through an early season marathon. As of Thursday, three of the NBA's top four minutes leaders were Knicks — Mikal Bridges (1,334 minutes),  Anunoby (1,239 minutes) and Hart (1,232 minutes). Furthermore, Towns is averaging nearly 38 minutes over the last three games after he clocked only 32.7 minutes in Minnesota last season. The sharpshooting big is not accustomed to playing these many minutes, at least not this early into the season.

If Thibs isn't careful, the Knicks could find themselves in a similar position as last year when whatever was left of their roster limped into the playoffs and lost to an inferior team in the Pacers.