CHARLOTTE — Two weeks faraway from turning his ankle at a nasty angle, Jalen Brunson is out of the strolling boot and “doing light shooting,” based on Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks coach added that “hopefully” Brunson will return to ascertain a rhythm earlier than the playoffs.
“Whenever he’s ready, he’s ready. He’s putting a lot into his rehab, so right now, that’s where we want his focus to be,” Thibodeau stated. “And then hopefully, he’ll get into some games where he works his way back into it.”
The Knicks have simply 13 video games remaining within the common season following a 115-98 loss Thursday in Charlotte.
Notably, Brunson wants 4 extra appearances to qualify for postseason awards.
Two of them should be no less than 20 minutes, and the opposite two should be no less than quarter-hour.
He’s a robust candidate for 2 of them — All-NBA and Clutch Participant of the Yr.
With two units of back-to-backs within the remaining six video games — and a precedence to maintain Brunson wholesome — it may be troublesome to squeeze that in on the finish of the season.
However clearly, the aim is to get the purpose guard real-game reps earlier than the primary spherical begins April 19.
Brunson was injured March 6 in extra time in opposition to the Lakers, when he landed on Austin Reaves, nailed a free throw and hobbled off the Crypto.com Enviornment flooring.
The Knicks are 3-4 with out their prime scorer.
Their offense had been struggling, whereas the protection skilled an uptick with Miles McBride because the substitute.
The Knicks are also within the doldrums of their schedule, the annual March crunch of highway video games — thanks, Massive East Event — that really feel much less consequential this yr with Brunson unavailable and the staff considerably comfy within the third seed.
However after the Knicks regarded worn out in Wednesday’s loss to the Spurs, McBride pushed again laborious on the notion that off nights are acceptable.
“No, I think these are some more important days,” he stated. “Honestly, I feel like if you’ve played in the playoffs before, I feel like these are the times where guys are really trying to tune up even more, and these games become even more important, whether you’re looking at trying to get in the playoffs or get a better seeding. So I feel like these are games where trying to tune up and get ready, and I feel we didn’t show that [against the Spurs].”
On a private stage for McBride, it’s straightforward to see why these video games are so important.
He’s once more seeing large minutes as a starter, identical to final season, when surgical procedures shelved OG Anunoby and Julius Randle.
McBride went from averaging 23.7 minutes earlier than Brunson’s harm to 33.5 within the six video games instantly afterward.
His contributions on protection have been predictably constructive, given his ability set.
However the Spurs defeat was a dud on each side of the ball total for the Knicks, who had been torched by the little-known Sandro Mamukelashvili.
McBride stated missed pictures carried over to protection for the Knicks, who Thursday performed on the highway for the eleventh time prior to now 14 video games.
“Our approach, I felt like when shots weren’t going in, we’re kind of a shell of ourselves,” McBride stated. “We just didn’t do the little things. Sometimes in games that’s going to happen, especially when it gets to tight games, playoff games. You might miss a shot, but if you don’t get back in transition, you let them capitalize.”
Brunson additionally wasn’t round to raise the offense within the fourth quarter.
That’s been his best trait this season — flashing his clutch gene.
And now that he’s again capturing on the sprained ankle, there’s hope he’ll be re-integrated to gear up for the playoffs.
“Steady progress,” Thibodeau known as it.
