Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau on how refs call game now: 'Just play'

Julius Randle #30 of the Knicks argues with referee Mark Lindsay #29 during the fourth quarter against the Nets at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac

The Knicks and Bulls met for a third time Thursday night in a span of just over a month, the sort of familiarity that at earlier days in the history of these franchises would have led to hard fouls, benches clearing and the NBA studying film for fines and suspensions.

While Tom Thibodeau was a part of some of those groups earlier from his days as a Knicks assistant and a head coach in Chicago, his long relationship with Bulls coach Billy Donovan avoided the sort of war of words that once existed when Phil Jackson was…