Per SNY's Ian Begley, New York Knicks reps Mikal Bridges and Tom Thibodeau took some time to talk time prior to Wednesday's game in Portland. Bridges made headlines when a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Post declared that he had spoken with the head coach Thibodeau about cutting down on the Knicks starters' workload.

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.

Because the Knicks coach shot down the private discussion that happened with Bridges, Smith would take the star's side, saying the incident is a “bad sign” for the team. In the win over the Trail Blazers, Bridges finished with 33 points in 41 minutes.