Karl-Anthony Cities returned from one damage and picked up one other.
With one other recreation looming Monday in opposition to the Wizards, Cities gave a optimistic however imprecise reply about his availability.
“That’s always the plan: To play,” Cities mentioned.
Cities, who completed with 26 factors and 15 boards, took a tough spill late within the third quarter, a slip-and-tumble that left him nearly horizontal earlier than touchdown on his decrease again.
He was in clear ache and sat the ultimate 7:20, though coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned that was a strategic transfer to spice up the protection in opposition to a smaller Nets lineup.
“Just the way the game was going,” Thibodeau mentioned. “We had the lead. They were small. We wanted to do more switching. So we were reading how it was going.”
Cities had missed the earlier recreation with a contused knee and rapidly picked up a flagrant foul Sunday for backhanding the groin space of Nets ahead Cam Johnson.
The foul was after Cities misplaced the ball beneath the basket and he raised his arms beneath Johnson’s legs, although it was unclear whether or not the contact was intentional.
Then he dominated offensively — hitting 10 of 16 photographs with six assists — earlier than sitting out the closing minutes.
“I’m going to do everything I can to play,” Cities mentioned. “It just didn’t work out for me [on Friday, his birthday], and that’s unfortunate because I would’ve loved to play in front of my family. But God is good on a Sunday.”
On the heels of Ariel Hukporti’s breakthrough, Thibodeau caught with Jericho Sims because the backup middle and it paid dividends with a stout defensive effort.
“When you look at Jericho, he’s No. 1 among centers in defensive field-goal percentage in the restricted. So I know what he provides there. And then his screening and ability to put pressure on the rim, it’s a different type of pressure. KAT can play away from the basket but Jericho is going hard to the rim. And then what it does also allow us to do is to switch more. He’s got great feet. So that part is good.”
As Thibodeau alluded to, Sims, a person of few phrases or feelings, entered Sunday with the Knicks greatest defensive score.
However in Friday’s win over the Nets, Sims solely performed 18 minutes as Hukporti shined with 4 blocks in half-hour. With Cities returning Sunday, Hukporti was a DNP as Sims soared on an alley-oop for his solely two factors, grabbed 4 rebounds, blocked one shot and stored his grip on the backup middle minutes.
