Knicks haven't missed many opportunities, despite missing regulars
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after scoring a three-point basket against the 76ers in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
OG Anunoby is back. Will Julius Randle be next? And what about Mitchell Robinson?
While the Knicks aren’t exactly on the precipice of being whole again, they took a step in that direction Tuesday against Philadelphia when Anunoby played his first game since Jan. 27. Anunoby’s addition to the Knicks starting lineup ended a difficult period during which the Knicks were without at least three starters.
The crowd at Madison Square Garden was so pumped up that they gave Anunoby a pregame cheer almost as loud as the one they gave All-Star Jalen Brunson. The Knicks, as usual, have been cagey, bordering on misleading when it comes to injuries, so it’s impossible to say when or whether Randle or Robinson will be back.
Here’s the weird thing, though. The Eastern Conference, once you dip below Boston and then below Milwaukee, is so uniformly mediocre that the Knicks might be able to make some noise without them.
The Knicks were in fourth place in the conference when Anunoby played his last game before having bone fragments removed from his right elbow. And, despite going 8-10 during that stretch where they were missing at least three starters, they entered Tuesday night’s game still in fourth place.
Talk about a lot of teeth gnashing for nothing. Add to that, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has had a chance to find out a thing or two about his reserves the last 18 games.
“I think you learn something every day,” Thibodeau said in his pregame news conference. "It’s been an unusual season in terms of injuries ... .A lot of guys have stepped in and played really well. Their roles were expanded and the responded well to that.”
If you have to single out a player that Thibodeau has learned the most about, it’s Josh Hart. The Knicks versatile guard entered Tuesday night having played an average of 43.2 minutes per game in his last nine. Thibodeau continued to give him heavy minutes early as he played 20:59 in the first half.
He’s not the only one Thibodeau has learned something about as before the game he ticked off the contributions that Precious Achiuwa, Jericho Sims and Donte DiVincenzo have made over the past 18 games. He then paused and added, “Jalen’s been Jalen throughout.”
Jalen’s been Jalen is the essence of this team. Brunson may have off nights — see Sunday’s horrific 79-73 loss to the 76ers when he shot 6-for-22 and scored 19 points — but he usually quickly bounces back and demands that his team does too. In the first half of Tuesday night’s game, he scored 15 points and was shooting 4-for-7 from three-point range.
Brunson was clear at the Knicks practice on Monday that he was looking for a do-over. Tuesday night’s game was one of those rare situations where the Knicks played the same team twice in three days and Brunson clearly wanted to erase the memory of Sunday’s game.
“Obviously when you lose like that, you want the chance to go back and play it again,” Brunson said. “It’s kind of a chance for us to refocus and understand that this team just beat us. With this situation we have that. It’s a good chance to see where we are.”
Where the Knicks are is on the home stretch heading into the playoffs. While they are holding on to fourth place, the eighth-place team, the Heat, was only two games behind them. The Knicks have a tough four game trip coming up and it’s hard to imagine that they can hang on to fourth. At the same time, a slip to sixth would match them up against Cleveland, a team they’ve shown they can beat this season.
For now, they can only take one win at a time. And Tuesday night was a win they wanted.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
