Just as the Knicks appeared to be finding their stride, Jalen Brunson went down with a right ankle injury and OG Anunobystrained his left hamstring. Injuries are par for the course in any NBA season, and it looks like the Knicks are facing their bug early in this one.
Brunson’s injury is only a Grade 1 sprain, and he’s being evaluated daily, so good news for the Knicks on a potential timeline there. He’s historically been able to grit through these types of injuries, and the daily cadence suggests that we’re looking at only a week or two of missed time if things break right.
Hamstrings can be trickier, and we don’t know the full extent of Anunoby’s injury yet. Assuming a low-severity strain -- which is fair, given his immediate reaction -- this should also be a two-week recovery.
These injuries come just in time for New York’s first extended road trip of the year as it bounces around from Miami to Dallas, Orlando, Brooklyn and Charlotte before wrapping up the month at home against Milwaukee and Toronto. Those are five winnable road games, especially if the team plays up to the standard that it did this past Friday night against the Heat.
Ultimately, the impact of these injuries to the win column may end up negligible. Three teams are already deep lottery favorites, and the Knicks have already shown that they’re capable of stepping up without key pieces.
New York’s offense skewered Miami to the tune of 140 points, getting separate 30-point halves out of Karl-Anthony Towns and Landry Shamet, plus enough stops down the stretch to secure the win. The Knicks can’t bank on repeated historic performances, and maybe they do drop some of these games, but we can still learn a lot about this team in Brunson and Anunoby’s absence.
One early question with this squad is where it’s getting secondary ball handling and creation from. We’ve seen this offensive system sputter against tougher, high-pressure defenses that clog and muck up the freelance motion it relies on -- and fall right back on Brunson’s shoulders.
This has led some fans to pointing to the team’s lack of secondary ball handlers, with their alternates being more traditional off-guards in Shamet, Miles McBride and Mikal Bridges, a sparkplug scorer in Jordan Clarkson and whatever you consider Josh Hart. In theory, you can get enough ball handling in pieces from all these guys to make up for not having another reliable guard, but we’re waiting for that to translate in practice.
The above names will get their chance to elevate their creation games in the coming games. Clarkson contributed season highs with 33 minutes and 24 points against the Heat and should get more burn going forward.
Shamet had a career night with 36 points and has one of the quicker first steps in the rotation. McBride has been relatively quiet to start the season so far, but being thrust into the starting lineup might be the push that he needs.
Hart had his first triple-double of the season following these injuries -- the type of energy and impact that New York will need from him down two starters. He can be the best or worst playmaker, depending on his wildness, with his strengths maximized in transition and breaking defenses with timely cuts, passes and offensive rebounds in the halfcourt.
Somebody outside the rotation -- like Tyler Kolek -- could get their chance. But there was no indication of that as of Friday’s game.
Bridges is having a career playmaking year, but most of his success has come against weaker foes and he still doesn’t feel like a reliable pick-and-roll threat. Eyes should be on him to have a big stretch here, especially on the defensive end with Anunoby missing.
There’s been a silver lining to Brunson missing time in the past -- the defense typically improves with one fewer weak point. It’s not so simple this time around without Anunoby and with the Knicks running smaller lineups that bigger teams have started picking on.
The good news for the Knicks is that prior to Friday’s game, they ranked 12th in the league with 112.9 points allowed per 100 possessions. If they can keep up that level without a Defensive Player of the Year-level talent, it would help cement their defensive foundation and championship aspirations.
It’s possible that they roll out some guys to make up for the lost defensive personnel. Guerschon Yabusele’s size may be welcome right now, and Mohamed Diawara is worth look as well.
Every season comes with its challenges. For the Knicks, learning a new offensive scheme just wasn’t enough to start this year. The Brunson and Anunoby injuries may not leave long-lasting scars, but they can have long-term benefits if the rest of the team elevates their games.
