According to Obi Toppin, the offended trade with assistant coach Rick Brunson in Philadelphia is just not solely water beneath the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, it was the spark to the facility ahead’s greatest quarter of the season.
Brunson and Toppin obtained into an argument throughout a timeout of the Knicks’ comeback victory Friday evening over the Sixers. Although the TV cameras didn’t catch the second, a witness mentioned there was at the very least one expletive throughout the trade and the pair required bodily separation.
Toppin mentioned Brunson’s rivalry was about effort — acknowledging there have been “a little bit of extra words” concerned — and the message labored.
“He looked at me and told me to play harder. And I was like, ‘I got you,’” Toppin mentioned. “But I had to step it up and he made it known I had to step up. Then it happened in the second half.”
Toppin dropped 13 of his 17 factors within the fourth quarter, taking part in successfully alongside Julius Randle for the primary time this season in a major stretch. The Knicks recovered from 12 factors down and Toppin hat-tipped his assistant.
“That’s my family. I love Rick. It’s just basketball. Competitive,” Toppin mentioned. “You see what happened when he did that. It got me going. He knows that about me. Me and him will always have love for each other. Nothing serious.”
Brunson and Toppin have a previous relationship that helps clean over such quarrels. Not lengthy after COVID-19 hit and basketball across the nation paused, Brunson educated Toppin in Dajuan Wagner’s gymnasium in South Jersey.
That was additionally throughout the pre-draft course of and the Knicks appreciated the intel sufficient to select Toppin eighth total in 2020.
“Don’t take it personally,” Toppin mentioned. “Like [by Saturday night], it was like the argument never happened. That’s family. I love Rick to death.”
Tom Thibodeau, no stranger to fiery drama after teaching Jimmy Butler, Kevin Garnett and Charles Oakley, labeled the Brunson-Toppin trade as, “Just normal NBA stuff. Heat of the battle.”
Toppin wasn’t as efficient alongside Randle throughout Saturday’s loss to the Celtics, a defeat outlined by Boston’s franchise-record 27 3-pointers. Toppin completed with seven factors on 3-of-9 taking pictures, and the Knicks (4-5) had been outscored by 22 factors in his quarter-hour.
Thibodeau, who has been immune to play Toppin and Randle collectively as a result of he feels extra comfy with a conventional rim-protecting middle, might really feel compelled to experiment with it additional over the following few video games.
Mitchell Robinson, the beginning middle, is out at the very least per week with a sprained knee, an harm that usually retains gamers shelved a month or longer.
“Obviously the pace of the game is much faster [with Toppin and Randle as the frontcourt], so that’s a big plus,” Thibodeau mentioned after Saturday’s defeat. “I want to see the film. I just didn’t think our defense with any group was what it needed to be. But I do like it. I like what it gives us.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com