Mikal Bridges says he talked to his coach about Knicks starters playing too many minutes. Head coach Tom Thibodeau denies the discussion ever took place. Bridges spoke with reporters about it Wednesday morning in Portland.

Bridges is not only leading the NBA in total minutes played but is second in minutes per game, just behind teammate Josh Hart, 37.819 to 37.812. OG Anunoby is sixth while Jalen Brunson is 19th and Karl-Anthony Towns is 23rd — all five starters averaging at least 35 minutes per game.

If there's one thing we know about a Tom Thibodeau-coached team it's that he's going to play his starters a ton of minutes. He's been known to run with short rotations, relying heavily upon his starters to the point where there tends to be criticism about overworking his stars.