Thibs planning to stick with 9-man rotation ... for now

Tom Thibodeau cut his rotation down to nine on Sunday night, and he wants to keep it that way for at least a few games after it paid off in a rare quality win at home.

The Knicks’ coach sat Cam Reddish and Derrick Rose, and felt the shorter bench created a better flow for his team at both ends of the floor in a 92-81 win over the Cavaliers at the Garden.

Thibodeau was vague on the plan with Rose, who was replaced in the rotation by second-year guard Miles McBride. He said part of the decision not to play Rose was because the Knicks were playing the second game of a back-to-back. Reddish was simply a coach’s decision.

“It’s more of [the] rotation, I wanted to get it to a nine-man rotation,” Thibodeau said, when asked about Reddish, who has started eight games this year. “It worked a lot better. So just be ready.”

Reddish had struggled since returning from a right groin injury and finding himself in a new role coming off the bench. He logged just nine minutes on Saturday against the Mavericks and committed three turnovers in a scoreless effort.

McBride played well on the defensive end in 16 minutes, and registered a pluseight rating. Asked if the second-year guard would remain in the rotation in place of Rose on Wednesday against the Hawks, Thibodeau said: “We’ll see where we are.”

The Knicks didn’t make Rose or Reddish available to the media after the game.

Thibodeau had cut down his rotation to nine at the start of the recent five-game West Coast trip, but had returned to 10 over the last few games. He liked how it looked on Sunday. “There’s guys who are deserving to be in there. You’re trying to stretch it a little bit until there’s more clarity to it and once there is and you have more information, now you’ve got to make the decision,” Thibodeau said. “So that’s what we did. We’re always going to do what we think is best for the team.”

➤ Donovan Mitchell ,an Elmsford, N.Y. native and three-time All-Star, said he had more friends and family at this game than any other one since his rookie year.

There was a lot of talk about him getting traded to the Knicks in the offseason, but he ended up getting moved to the Cavaliers instead.

“What’s done is done, and I’m happy as hell to be where I’m at,” he said. “At the end of the day, this decision was made and I don’t think I’ve been happier since I’ve been in the league.”

➤ Ryan Arcidiacono (sprained left ankle) remained out . ... The Cavaliers were without former Nets center Jarrett Allen (back) and Dean Wade (shoulder) . ... Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor attended the game.

Julius Randle was still stunned 30 minutes after the game had finished.

Fourteen traveling and carrying calls were made in the Knicks’ 92-81 win over the Cavaliers on Sunday night, the most in an NBA game this season.

“I’ve never seen that in my life,” the Knicks forward said.

When told it was part of a new emphasis from the league for officials to call games tighter by the letter of the law, Randle then understood it.

“Oh, they did it,” he said. “They definitely did it.”

Marveled Jalen Brunson: “It’s a lot of travels, a lot of travels.”

The 14 travels and carries were the most in a game in the last 25 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since it is a play-by-play stat, that type of information is not readily available for all of NBA history, and Elias couldn’t go back any further.

Brunson was admittedly stunned by a few of the calls, but credited the officials for doing the best they could under this new guidance. All around the league traveling and carrying calls have been up recently. On Sunday, plays that would typically not draw a whistle were stopped for a change of possession. Basic moves players are used to making were violations. The Knicks were called for six traveling violations in Saturday’s ugly loss to the Mavericks.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was whistled for a technical foul in the fourth quarter for arguing about traveling calls.

“Look, I’m all for enforcing the rules, I am. I thought we had a good crew. And they’re being told to call it a certain way,” Thibodeau said. “So I think I know what the intent is. I think that is good. But it can’t be — you can’t pick and choose. I want to see a consistency to it. If I see a consistency, there will not be any complaining by me.”

Randle felt the calls helped the Knicks, even though they were whistled for eight violations compared to six for the Cavaliers. Randle called it the biggest difference between their 21-point loss to the Mavericks on Saturday and Sunday’s impressive win. The Knicks held Cleveland to a season-low in points and to 8-for-35 shooting from 3-point range. When asked what it would take for the Knicks to sustain this kind of defensive performance, he smiled.

“Hopefully, we can force [our opponent] into more travels,” Randle said.