The Knicks are operating out of level guards.
Cam Payne, who was beginning his third straight recreation with Jalen Brunson (ankle) and Miles McBride (groin) each sidelined, exited the 126-113 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night time at Madison Sq. Backyard with a proper ankle sprain.
Payne had sparked a scorching Knicks begin offensively, scoring 15 factors earlier than his damage.
It left rookie Tyler Kolek as the one wholesome true level guard obtainable.
He performed 19 minutes — tied for a season excessive — and recorded seven assists, although he didn’t rating.
“You just gotta be ready to go when your number is called,” Kolek stated. “You don’t wish for these circumstances, for guys to get hurt. You always wish for opportunity, but you don’t want to see it come at the expense of other guys. Just gotta be a professional and be ready to go no matter what my role is, whether I’m out there starting or out there cheering my guys from the bench.”
Little-used Delon Wright additionally noticed extra motion because of the accidents, taking part in 12 minutes — his most for the reason that Knicks acquired him from the Bucks forward of the commerce deadline.
He didn’t rating and had three assists within the loss.
“Just next guy get in there,” coach Tom Thibodeau stated. “I believed Tyler performed nicely within the first half. After which Delon, who’s the following man, get in and get the job performed. That’s a giant a part of your method, your staff’s method. I believe there’s going to be adversity. You must be mentally robust. You’ve to have the ability to get by that. You must keep disciplined.
“I knew it would be a challenge. [The Clippers are] playing really well. They’re fresh, two days of rest. I knew we would have to be at our best. We’re more than capable of getting that done.”
Mitchell Robinson returned Wednesday after lacking Tuesday’s win over the Mavericks, as he’s not but taking part in back-to-backs since getting back from his foot damage.
He performed simply 13 minutes, although, and didn’t rating. He had two rebounds and an help.
“I don’t get wrapped up in his minutes, it’s how the team is functioning,” Thibodeau stated. “And that’s the big thing. It’s not a ‘he’s gonna play this amount of minutes.’ … It’s who do they have on the floor? And they were playing [Ben] Simmons at the five when he was in there, so it was a little different matchup-wise. And they had [Nic] Batum. You’re looking at the matchups, you’re looking at what’s going on in the game.”
