STILL DOWN & OUT
Brunson sits vs. Hawks due to knee injury; Knicks add guard depth, sign Milton
Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson missed Tuesday’s game with what the team is calling a left knee contusion after a freak injury in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Brunson sat against the Atlanta Hawks after a scary play in the opening moments of the Knicks’ matchup in Cleveland.
The star guard came off of a pindown screen on the Knicks’ opening possession and hurt his knee while raising up for a foul line jump shot.
He then hobbled to the sidelines, sat on the court and had a team trainer help assist him to the locker room.
An MRI on Brunson’s knee came back clean, but the star guard was unable to suit up against the Hawks on Tuesday.
“It is a bruise and it’s a lot better than it was, but we just want to make sure he’s completely ready,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Hawks. “He’s feeling better. Just not quite there yet. … When he’s ready to go, he goes.
“In the meantime, just like what we did the last game: Deuce (McBride) get in there, get the job done. We’ve got Alec (Burks). So we’ve got more than enough.”
Thibodeau said there was a sigh of relief when his star guard turned up without a severe injury.
“Yeah, and I think the same holds true for all: You don’t want to see any of your players get hurt,” he said. “I know the commitment that our guys have made, the sacrifices they’ve made. Obviously, you want to be at full strength.
“But injuries are part of the game and it’s ‘How quickly can we adapt as a team?’ That’s the challenge that we face. As I mentioned the other night, it’s been that way all year. Mitch (Robinson) went out, Isaiah (Hartenstein) got in there, got it done; then Isaiah had limitations, Jericho (Sims) went and Precious (Achiuwa) came
so whatever we have, get in there and get it done.”
Brunson is the fourth current Knicks starter to sustain an injury.
The Knicks were already short their entire starting front court, including Mitchell Robinson (left ankle surgery), Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) and OG Anunoby (right elbow surgery) before Brunson came up hobbling in Cleveland on Sunday.
The first-time All-Star guard is averaging 27.2 points and 6.6 assists per game in New York this season and tied Milwaukee Buck’s star Damian Lillard for the Eastern Conference’s final All-Star starting backcourt spot this season.
Lillard got the nod amassing 700,000 more fan votes than Brunson even though Brunson won on both the player and media All-Star ballot.
The Knicks now have another star’s shoes to fill.
The Knicks have help to sustain his absence: Miles “Deuce” McBride has played well in his extended minutes after the Immanuel Quickley trade; the Knicks acquired scoring wing Alec Burks as part of the Bojan Bogdanovic deal with the Detroit Pistons; and the team introduced backup point guard Shake Milton after signing him to a free agent contract on Monday.
Milton was traded to the nine-win Pistons before negotiating a buyout and immediately joining the Knicks when he cleared waivers.
“Size. Versatility. Can play both positions,” Thibodeau said of his team’s newest addition. “He’s a guard. He’s been in the league for a while. I thought he had some really good stretches in Philadelphia. And we just like who he is.”
Milton marks the third midseason addition this Knicks team has made after trading for Anunoby, then Bogdonavic and Burks.
He is a career 35.7 percent threepoint shooter and combo guard who spent the first five seasons of his career in Philadelphia before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves over the summer.
The Wolves traded Milton to the Pistons in exchange for backup point guard Monte Morris.
“The situation in Detroit, knowing what direction they wanted to go (tanking for the draft),” Milton explained to reporters at his locker ahead of tipoff on Tuesday. “(I) just talked to my agent and the front office of the Knicks, and felt like it would be a good fit.”
Milton said a relationship with Knicks senior basketball advisor William Wesley fast-tracked his move to New York.
“Yeah most definitely. Just the comfortability,” he said. “I didn’t want any promises or anything like that. I knew my job was to come in, be a part of the team, work hard and be ready for any opportunity. Honestly that’s what I was looking for. Just to be able to join these guys, get under Coach Thibs and really just study, learn and be prepared.”
Milton said he has a good relationship with Brunson, who went to a couple youth basketball camps together. He and both Burks and Charlie Brown Jr. played together in Philadelphia, and he knows players like Anunoby, Donte DiVincenzo from their battles against one another as opponents.
He has a relationship with Julius Randle because both hang out in Dallas, Randle’s hometown.
Milton also said Thibodeau is the kind of coach he likes to play for.
“I don’t know, I feel like those are the type of coaches that I like, that I’m used to: old-school, tough, right to the point,” he said on Tuesday. “But it’s funny, you can kind of see the personality come out. And I haven’t even been here that long, but even at shoot around, he’s tough, he’s on guys, but at the same time he’s cracking jokes, too, so kinda able to see both sides of it. It’ll be fun.”
Milton joins a Knicks team that lost eight of the 11 games prior to Sunday’s victory over the Cavaliers.
The Knicks entered Milton’s Tuesday debut against the Atlanta Hawks as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, but only a halfgame separates New York from No. 5 Philadelphia and there’s only 2.5 games worth of distance between the fourth seed and the eighth.
With Brunson joining a long list of Knicks starters on the injured list, Milton could play an integral role in helping the Knicks retain playoff standing in the second half of the season.
“I can tell — I haven’t been around too long but being out there at shootaround, you can tell guys are locked in,” he said. “Every win is important. I think that’s where everybody’s head is. Everybody’s gotta do whatever it takes for the team to help us win. You like being around an atmosphere like that.”