The Knicks primarily clinched a playoff berth beneath unsettling circumstances.
All-Star Julius Randle sustained an ankle sprain within the first half, limping off the courtroom earlier than halftime and lacking the Knicks surge previous the Heat for a major victory Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden.
The win pushed the No. 5 Knicks (44-33) 4 video games forward of the No. 7 Heat (40-37) with 5 to play. That race is basically over. The magic quantity is one for Tom Thibodeau’s squad to safe a top-6 end for an computerized postseason spot.
But Randle’s standing is now in query.
“Any time a guy gets hurt, it’s tough. Especially Ju,” RJ Barrett stated. “He’s an All-Star who has played every game so far. To see him hurt, it sucks. We wish him a speedy recovery. We were able to see him after the game. Just need some time to unpack what happened.”
With 2:38 remaining within the first half of a tie sport, the ability ahead grabbed a rebound and landed on the foot of Heat heart Bam Adebayo. Randle’s ankle turned and he fell in ache. He stood as much as shoot the free throws — hitting 1-of-2 — and hobbled to the locker room.
Randle was dominated out at halftime, ending with simply three factors in quarter-hour. He by no means returned to the bench. It represented his lowest scoring sport since becoming a member of the Knicks.
Just two days prior, Randle sat at his locker room — proper after ending his 76th straight sport to begin the season — and informed the Daily News concerning the vital homestretch, “I’ve been building towards this. This is what I do. Everyday, it’s how I prepare.. I don’t have to psych myself up any more.”
Now there are questions on how most of the remaining 5 video games Randle will play, if any. He’s been an Iron Man since becoming a member of the Knicks however the ankle sprain was severe sufficient for Randle to bend over in ache whereas strolling off the courtroom and thru the tunnel.
Barrett took over a lot of the energy ahead minutes within the fourth quarter, ending with 12 factors in 34 minutes. Obi Toppin may additionally serve in a bigger position with out Randle. But the explosive energy ahead, who has regressed this season with fewer alternatives, logged solely 17 minutes Wednesday.
Jericho Sims may additionally re-emerge into the rotation.
This is new territory since Randle is likely one of the few remaining gamers who hasn’t missed a sport and is second within the NBA in whole minutes.
“Injuries, they happen,” Thibodeau stated. “And the thing that we have to understand is you don’t, when you have a guy who’s averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds and five assists and doing the things that he’s doing, you’re not replacing him with an individual player. But what we can do is we can play great defense, we can rebound the ball great, we can take care of the ball. We know if we do those three things great, we can be in position to win. So we gotta make up for him collectively.”
While one star went down for the Knicks on Wednesday, one other returned. Jalen Brunson performed with a brace after sitting the earlier two video games with a sprained hand. He struggled with 12 factors in half-hour, sitting the whole fourth quarter as Quickley (24 factors) took management.
At stake for the remaining schedule, with or with out Randle, is staying above the No. 6 Nets (41-35). For many within the rotation, significant video games in April are unchartered territory. Only Brunson has performed greater than 5 postseason video games.
Josh Hart has performed none.
“These games are fun,” Hart stated. “Because if we were on a team that was tanking, I wouldn’t be playing. So I think it’s fun to play towards the end of the season, man. Like I said, I wasn’t normally out there the last couple of years, I wasn’t playing during this time. So it feels good.”
The victory felt good. But Randle’s ache overshadowed it.
“I don’t know the severity of it,” Quickley stated. “I know it was bad just by the reaction when they showed the replay. But he was in good spirits when I talked to him.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com