Stephen A. Smith skewers Tom Thibodeau in distraught Knicks rant after Game 2 loss

Stephen A.Smith skewered Tom Thibodeau and still had some criticism left to use on Jalen Brunson’s shot selection.Speaking for a lot of frustrated Knicks fans after Thibodeau’s strange lineup rotations proved costly in a 114-109 Game 2 loss Friday to the Pacers at Madison Square Garden, Smith, the ESPN hot-takes artist, questioned Thibodeau’s substitutions.But Smith highlighted the decision to keep Karl-Anthony Towns, named to the All-NBA Third-Team earlier in the day, on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.That’s probably not where most Knicks fans would have started.“I don’t understand for the life of me how in the hell he has KAT playing just 28 minutes,” a distraught Smith said in an X video, while rubbing his face with his hands.

“[Thibodeau] is going to try to tell us it was defense.But with Mitchell Robinson on the court, the deficit increased.”Most Knicks fans want more Robinson because of his defense and offensive rebounding.

 Thibodeau’s loyalty to his starting lineup hurt the Knicks as they fell into holes at the start of the first and third quarters.But then his strange, offensively challenged fivesome — including Cam Payne over Jalen Brunson — to start the fourth quarter proved costly, too.Ultimately, Brunson missed a forced 29-footer with eight seconds remaining and a chance to tie.

The Pacers could have fouled and put the Knicks in a situation where they had to make a free throw and miss a free throw intentionally to play for an offensive rebound.“That shot near the end of regulation,” Smith said, shaking his head furiously, “don’t know what that was about.”The Knicks are down 2-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals and won’t play again at Madison Square Garden unless they win at least one of the next two games in Indiana.“I don’t know what else to say,” Smith said, before getting loud.“I mean, I do know what to say.

I don’t want to.I don’t want to.

I don’t know what Thibs was doi...