DENVER — Last week was a warning.
It started with OG Anunobythe obvious agony – grimaces and flexes – that the Knicks insisted that these were just regular reactions that anyone who has had surgery would understand.
After an evening of Anunoby shakes or grabs his elbow uncomfortably Almost every time he raised his right arm, the Knicks would say he wouldn’t be on the next injury report — because, in their words, there was no injury to report. It was March 14. A day later, he showed up there: doubtful for a match with the Kings of Sacramento.
On March 16, after Anunoby shot 1 of 8 in Sacramento with his 3 well short of the rim, they reiterated that he would not miss a game. Now it is.
Anunoby left Knicks road tripunable to play in Monday’s win over the Warriors of the Golden State and officially ruled out for Thursday’s match against the Denver Nuggets. An MRI he received this week “came back clean,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said, although it showed inflammation in the affected elbow.
Of course, the Knicks haven’t been very open about Anunoby’s injury from the start when they listed him as questionable with what they called “elbow inflammation,” not far from term they use now. At the time, in late January and early February, Anunoby was day to day. TThe team did not announce that he had undergone surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow until nearly two weeks after missing his first game.
But that warning isn’t about questioning doctors, who know more about surgery than reporters, or even relying on what the Knicks say publicly about their players’ health, which often doesn’t match reality.
Instead, the warning is bigger than that: a player can pass every test. Doctors can authorize any physical activity. And yet, this player can still appear as a facsimile of himself. The Knicks need to do everything in their power to make sure that doesn’t happen with Anunoby, Julius Randle Or Mitchell Robinson.
Warning signs have already appeared for all three players.
Once Anunoby returns, whenever that may be, will pain and close-range shooting still be part of his recovery? If so, how long does the saga last? And if soreness leads to ugly shooting, could that hurt the Knicks in the playoffs, when stingy defenses exploit the weaknesses they identify?
If there’s one guy who can play well without shooting well, it’s Anunoby, who is perhaps the most versatile defender in the league and whose cut opens up the Knicks’ offense like no one else.
But this team is yearning for a strong playoff run, as they should. The evidence is limited but compelling. New York is 15-2 with Anunoby in the lineup. His first unit destroyed opponents while he and Randle were both healthy. The defense is everywhere. The tenacity is overwhelming.
If sitting Anunoby for a few more games could ease the pain, even though doctors say he can continue to play, rest might be warranted. Who cares about winning 48 games instead of 50 when the goal is to win 16?
But Anunoby isn’t the only player injured — and he’s not the only one who unintentionally tipped off the Knicks. They also received one in the 2023 playoffs.
That’s when Randle recovered from an ankle injury, in time for a first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Randle who appeared this spring is not the one who created All-NBA during the regular season. He shot just 37 percent from the field and 26 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs and underwent surgery shortly afterward. Miami heat eliminated New York.
No one in the league despises missed games more than Randle. Without a doubt, this comes from the right place. He wants to compete and can’t wait to get back. If he performs like he did earlier in the season when he flew high enough to reach his third All-Star team in four years, the Knicks could play until the end of May — or even until in June.
The Knicks, who are No. 4 in the Eastern Conference heading into Thursday’s games, are now winning with their second, third and arguably fourth best players sidelined. Jalen Brunson performs at the All-NBA level. They have won four in a row, three of them away. Just imagine how strong this team could become once these guys return.
Of course, they must look somewhat similar.
Behind the scenes, Randle is doing everything possible to come back. His pain tolerance is undoubtedly “crazy,” as someone close to him recently described it, but he is human. Maybe Randle can fight anxiety, but maybe fighting it still affects him.
This was the case in the 2023 playoffs, where he not only missed shots; he also lacked energy. He wasn’t a ball-carrier on defense with the intensity of the playoffs and his possessions died too often with the ball in his hands.
This puts the Knicks in a difficult situation. Randle wants to play, but if pain impairs his qualities so much that he becomes a burden, should he? Could he take down a team whose greatest strength lies in its effort, like he did in a matter of moments last spring?
Robinson took a step forward Wednesday when he participated in practice (which included contact drills) for the first time since ankle surgery in early December.
As the 7-footer nears a return, a similar warning could come his way.
This isn’t Robinson’s first surgery; he suffered one on his foot three summers ago. The surgery meant he couldn’t do cardio as often as he wanted, so he compensated for that in other ways. He couldn’t run but could lift weights, so he chose to bulk up. But Robinson regretted this diet once the games started. He spent much of this season losing weight so he could regain the athleticism that makes him an elite defender and rebounder.
This time, after ankle surgery, Robinson took a different approach to rehabilitation. He moved away from weightlifting to focus more on pool training and cycling, activities that don’t put pressure on the ankle. But it was another lower-body injury that kept him off his feet for months.
Robinson has learned from his latest recovery, but his conditioning is still in question. What might he look like once he returns, when there’s a high probability he comes off the bench instead of starting?
On Wednesday, after his first practice in nearly four months, a reporter asked Brunson if Robinson looked like him.
“He looks like Mitch. … He’s not an impostor,” Brunson said.
The Knicks must continue this.
It’s moments like Randle’s 2023 playoff run, Anunoby’s grimaces and Robinson’s former recovery that should remind them they need more than just the return of their injured players. They also need to do everything they can to make sure that these three are really themselves and not impostors.
(Photo by Julius Randle and OG Anunoby: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
