Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau odds: Latest New York epic collapse has coach on NBA's hottest seat

Some NBA teams will go a few seasons without losing a game in which they led by as many as 20 points. The New York Knicks on Wednesday led the Brooklyn Nets, who were without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, by 28 points in the first half and 18 in the fourth yet lost 111-106 at home. It was New York's third loss THIS MONTH in a game it led by at least 20 points, and the calls for the team to fire Coach Tom Thibodeau are raging. SportsLine offers odds on his future with the team.

"Even before the brutal loss to the Nets, confidence in Thibodeau had diminished among some people of influence at Madison Square Garden," Ian Begley of SNY reported.  

The Knicks' biggest lead Wednesday was 28 points with 6:44 to go in the second quarter. It was their largest blown lead in a loss over the last 30 seasons. They are now the first team to blow three 20-point leads in the same month in the last 25 seasons. New York led at Portland by 23 in the third on Feb. 12 and lost by nine, and it led by 21 at the Lakers on Feb. 5 and lost by seven in overtime. Prior to February, the Knicks were 9-0 when leading by 20 or more this season.

"You get a big lead, you got to play tough with a lead," Thibodeau said after Wednesday's loss. "You have to understand how to play with a lead, so we haven't done that. We haven't done that well. We just talked about that -- obviously you're doing a lot of good things to build those leads, and then how do you play with the lead. You have to play tough with a lead, and so we didn't do that."

At 25-34 entering the All-Star break and outside the Eastern Conference play-in tournament grouping, the Knicks are one of the NBA's biggest disappointments after finishing 41-31 last year and earning home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the Hawks, who won the series. Thibodeau was named the NBA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

There's no question that Thibs is a fine coach, but he tends to wear out his welcome because of his all-in style even for a meaningless regular-season game. He wore down the Bulls' best players in his tenure there by playing them incredibly heavy minutes.

That mindset really hurt the Knicks on Feb. 8 of a blowout loss in Denver. For some reason, he had second-leading scorer RJ Barrett still on the court in the final seconds with New York down 16 points – he was the only starter for either team out there. Barrett ended up injuring his ankle and hasn't played since.

In Monday's shameful home loss to Oklahoma City, Thibs admitted he "screwed up" by calling a second challenge he didn't have and burning the team's final timeout in a costly fourth-quarter sequence.

There's really no point firing Thibodeau during the All-Star break because there are only 23 games left in the Knicks' regular season. In addition, the team should get back point guard Derrick Rose from a long-term injury absence out of the break to try and make a push for the play-in tournament. After the season could be a very different story for Thibs if the Knicks continue to implode the rest of the way.

New York is +2000 to make the playoffs – which means in the final eight teams after the play-in tournament – and -10000 to miss.

"We have a chance to reboot here. Everything's on the table now," Thibodeau said Wednesday. "It has to be. And it's got to be merit-based. I'm not going to give minutes just to give minutes. So that's not happening. You earn what you get."

The Knicks' next game is at home next Friday vs. Miami. 

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will Tom Thibodeau be the Knicks' coach for the 2022-23 season opener?

• Yes -180
• No +140

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