Just 47 seconds into the Knicks’ road meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team they are battling for the Eastern Conference playoffs, their All-Star point guard went down with a bruised left knee. At first it seemed much worse. But an X-ray and subsequent MRI revealed no serious damage to Brunson’s knee.
The Knicks persevered and put up a valiant effort to defeat the Cavaliers 107-98, including a 47-minute, 16-point marathon from backup point guard Miles “Deuce” McBride, who was never knocked out by head coach Thibodeau once he entered the match. to replace Brunson.
However, the Knicks were unable to overcome a roster without Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Aunoby and Mitchell Robinson, four of their regular starters, on Tuesday night in losing to the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden 116-110. Since February 3, the Knicks are 4-9 in their last 13 games, after going 15-2 from January 1 to February 1, the best record in the NBA over that span.
Injuries have decimated the Knicks. They accepted it as a reason and not an excuse. But they are also realistic about their ability to compete with even the lowest teams in the league without four of their best players.
“We’re doing everything we can,” McBride said. “Doing everything we can in terms of recovery and guys playing big minutes, we’re working on the chemistry of the guys coming in and out. It’s difficult but we have to keep moving forward.
Teammate Josh Hart echoed McBride’s view.
“The margin for error is small, obviously with all the guys we have out,” Knicks forward Hart said after the loss to the Hawks. “We can’t have slow starts and then spend so much energy trying to come back and tie the game, get back in the game. We just didn’t get it done in that fourth game, we just have to find a way. »
Thibodeau is trying to find the right balance between offense and defense to win games while changing his disadvantaged lineup. This has proven unsuccessful over the past month, as the Knicks have been significantly outplayed in most of their matchups.
They are 36-26 heading into tomorrow’s game at MSG against the Orlando Magic. When Wednesday night’s NBA schedule was announced, the Knicks were No. 5 in the Eastern Conference, but only 0.5 games ahead of the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, who were both 35-26. .
Hart said he was trying not to focus on the standings with the Knicks still having 20 regular season games left.
“Sometimes when it appears. No, I don’t think about it too much. Ultimately, I feel like when this team gets healthy, we can make some noise,” Hart observed optimistically. “Obviously you don’t want to be in the play-in. I want to have those little 3, 4, 5 days off from the first round, but the cliché advice is to take it one game at a time and obviously we’ll get the guys back soon. But we have to keep pushing. At the end of the day, wherever we are, I love this team.
After the Magic, the Knicks will face the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and Tuesday night at the Garden before heading out on a four-game Western Conference road trip starting next Thursday against the Portland Trailblazers.
