Add Immanuel Quickley to Knicks' list of injured
New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley reacts after a play as forward Obi Toppin, left, looks on during the second half of Game 3 against the Miami Heat on Saturday. Credit: AP/Wilfredo Lee
MIAMI — With the Knicks trying to scramble their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, Immanuel Quickley was racing for a loose ball when Miami’s Bam Adebayo dived into his left leg, twisting his ankle and adding him to the growing list of players limping off the floor in this series.
With 6:15 to play, Quickley went to the floor and appeared to be in serious pain before being helped to his feet and heading straight to the locker room, limping badly.
“It hurt a lot,” Quickley said. “Part of the game.”
Asked if he will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday, he said, “No idea. We’ll see.”
Tossing up bricks
The Knicks were just 8-for-40 from three-point range and didn’t connect on one until midway through the second quarter. In Game 1 of the series, they were 7-for-34 and attributed it to simply missing open shots. This time?
“It kind of goes back to keeping your confidence, that next play mentality,’’ Jalen Brunson said. “You may miss three jump shots in a row and the fourth one you’re wide-open, you got to shoot it. Keep your confidence, keep your confidence in your teammates. We work way too hard to not be confident in ourselves. It’s part of the game. We have to move forward and continue to have each other’s backs.”
RJ Barrett added that the key is on the other end of the floor.
“Getting stops,” he said. “That way we can get out in transition more, get a few easy ones, things like that.”
Team defense
Isaiah Hartenstein shrugged off the scuffle with Miami’s Cody Zeller as simply protecting his teammate. Julius Randle had gotten tangled with the Heat’s backup center shortly before Zeller pushed him to the floor in the final seconds of the third quarter.
“I’m going to protect my teammate no matter what,” Hartenstein said. “I saw him push Julius to the ground and no matter who it is, I’m always going to protect my teammate. That’s what I thought was necessary at that time.”
Asked if something like that could spark the Knicks, he added, “You never know, I mean, I hope so. At the end of the day, I think it’s something as a team, you’re a family, so you have to stick up for each other. And I hope everyone would do it for each other.”
Grimes stays on 2nd unit
With a fully healthy — or least fully available — roster, Tom Thibodeau has opted to keep Quentin Grimes with the second unit and have Josh Hart stick with the starting lineup. While Hart has helped spur a high-powered bench group for much of the season, Thibodeau has focused on matching his minutes with those of Miami’s Jimmy Butler. Grimes did play in place of Barrett down the stretch in Game 2.
“I think as games wind down, a lot of it is going to be matchup-driven,” Thibodeau said. “What are you trying to get to? And that’s the thing. When you factor in Kyle [Lowry] and the thing he does, particularly with Jimmy, there’s a lot of things going on. There are a lot of things going on within the game, so we have to have awareness.”
Haslem ailing
Udonis Haslem, who had yet to appear in the series and is retiring at season’s end, was not at the arena because of a stomach illness.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
