With returns come new challenges for Thibodeau’s crew

Anew day is on the horizon for the Knicks. They have yet to play a game at full strength this season. Now with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson nearing a return, and both Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson progressing as well, the light previously at the distant end of the dark tunnel suddenly shines bright through the Tarrytown training facility corridors.

“It’s big for us,” said trade deadline acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic. “Right now we’re down four starters, so it’s hard to play that way. So it’s great to see those guys getting back healthy and getting back in shape as well.”

The depleted, outmatched Knicks have lost nine of their last 12 games and may very well drop a 10th in the last 13 facing a Magic team going for a 4-0 season series sweep tonight.

Losses matter more now for a Knicks team fighting for its playoff life, but getting the stars back healthy ranks atop the totem pole of priorities.

With its stars, the Knicks went 12-2 in January.

“I’ll just be excited to have our team back,” Josh Hart said. “We haven’t had our whole team one game this season in terms of what we have now or what we’ll end the season with.

“So, just excited to get those guys back hopefully with time to really gel and get accustomed to each other’s games and everything so we can finish the season off right and go into the playoffs feeling good.”

Time, of course, is not on the Knicks’ side. There are only 20 games left, and the Knicks may only be able to count the number of games they’ll have at full strength leading into the playoffs on one hand.

Randle, Anunoby and Robinson, for example, will each need to have their workload managed in their first games back.

“Usually what happens when a player goes through whatever injury they have, every player has to get back to where they trust their body again,” Tom Thibodeau said. “And that usually doesn’t happen until there’s a play in the game where you go, ‘Hey, I’m OK.’ ” The Knicks don’t have much wiggle room. If they can avoid the Play-In Tournament reserved for seeds Nos. 7-10 — a big if given the injury severity combined with a jumbled Eastern Conference playoff race — the Knicks can use the extra days ahead of the playoffs to make up for lost time.

“Hopefully, we can finish the season off strong and not be in the Play-In and have those four, five, six days in terms of rest, practice and stuff like that, just to get everyone really acclimated,” Hart said. “That would be ideal. Obviously, nothing ever works out perfectly, but that would be the ideal thing.”

Therein lies another challenge: Players reverting to minimal roles when the stars return to the rotation.

Hart, for example, averaged 28.2 minutes per game this season before Anunoby left the rotation. He is since averaging a league-leading 40.6 minutes per game.

“I know when guys come back and I’ll get back to 28 to 30-32 range,” Hart said. “I can be more energetic. I won’t have to save myself (for later in the game). I can fly around more, be more aggressive defensively, more aggressive offensively and get back to playing my game kind of how I want to play it.

Bogdanovic is another player whose looks will likely change once Randle and Anunoby return to the fold.

Bogdanovic is averaging 25.4 minutes per game since his arrival. Will he be on the floor in crunch time when he’s been a big shot maker elsewhere much of his career?

Bogi’s main focus is continuing to learn Thibodeau’s offensive system. He and Alec Burks come to the training facility on non-practice days just to work through sets. This will not change when Randle and Anunoby return.

“We’ve got a great group of guys and they’re trying to help us and help each other on the court,” he said. “We are doing our 5-on-0 before every practice to understand our position in the system and rotation. It’s gonna take probably a couple games for us and a couple games for them to get back into game shape, but I think we’ll be fine.”

The system won’t change, either. With Thibodoeau, the system is the only constant.

That’s because the system works. Players get hurt all the time. They miss games for a variety of reasons. Trades happen. So do personal situations.

“I think that’s the nature of our league,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously you want everyone healthy, that’s when we’re at our best, that’s where everyone’s at their best. But you also know that injuries are part of the game. So when that happens, you have to have a strategy for whatever it is that you’re going through.”

The Knicks are inching closer to full health, and with that comes a new set of challenges.

They’re challenges the Knicks will surely embrace. A fully-healthy Knicks team is a problem — even with just a handful of games left to lead into the playoffs.