Everybody has focused on Mike Brown’s decision to leave Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench for a majority of the fourth quarter in the New York Knicks’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Something else happened, though, that is perhaps just as noteworthy:
Brown closed the game without any big men.
With just under two minutes to play, Deuce McBride was subbed in for Mitchell Robinson, leaving the Knicks with a five-man center-less unit of him, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. That group stayed on the floor the rest of the way, in what was their first batch of court time together for the season.