The New York Knicks are on crutches and are dropping in the East, now ranked 5th after a 109-99 loss vs the Heat.
This has been a season full of emotions: Performance wise this Knicks team is one of the best since 2012, you could even make the argument that they blow that 2012 squad away | The only thing stopping the Knicks from being top 3 in the Eastern Conference are injuries.
If it wasn’t for countless injuries to star players, then this 44-win team could easily be upstairs contending with big brother Boston (59 wins).
Jalen Brunson is putting up the best Knicks season that anyone has seen since the Carmelo days – but he has played several key games while injured. Nevertheless, Brunson has only missed 5 games.
Julius Randle on the other hand is a different story and frankly him missing about 56% of games by season's end is something that Knick fans kinda deserve. How many times has Randle been ‘dethroned’ as King of New York by Knick fans? Whenever Randle has gotten into a slump the narrative to trade him stood tall and strong right away. After being a key piece as usual and playing a massive role in New York’s winning streak at the turn of the new year; Julius Randle has been on the IL since January and is not expected to play again this season. His absence has been felt every night.
Mitchell Robinson went down early, but Isaiah Hartenstein came to the rescue and took fans, media and possibly even his own team by surprise by putting up big numbers – then he also got injured.
Donte DiVincenzo is in the midst of the best season of his career. DiVencenzo’s downtown presence is at its highest value and it doesn’t look like that stock will lower anytime soon. Breaking franchise records for 3-pointers made in a single game and during the season, has put DiVincenzo’s name on the elite list as being one of the best sharpshooters from beyond the arc. DiVincenzo has only missed a single game so far this season, but nursing injuries mid-game has affected outcomes and contributed to losses.
OG Anunoby was a trade deadline move that instantly sent New York to a winning direction. Just as fast as it started though – like many things, it came to an even faster end. The new diagnosis for OG is vague and “generic,” but on its surface “elbow tendinopathy” shouldn’t be too worrisome, even though Anunoby missed the previous seven games with “injury management.” The Knicks changed the designation Monday to “right elbow tendinopathy.” Anunoby has spent time on the IL since coming to MSG and after having a mini stint off it, he is now back to missing games again.