Feel the sprain
Brunson could miss time after ankle injury
This time, Jalen Brunson couldn’t shake it off.
After going down hard earlier in the game, only to continue playing, his second hard trip to the floor Sunday night ended his evening.
With 9:03 left in the game, Brunson sprained his right ankle while defending a drive, and didn’t return in the Knicks’ 112-99 win over the Kings at the Garden. Sacramento’s Davion Mitchell landed on Brunson’s leg and the Knicks’ guard limped to the locker room.
His status for Wednesday’s game against the Bulls in Chicago is uncertain.
“I don’t know [if he’ll play]. To be totally honest, we’ll see where he is [on Monday],” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I’ll get a further update from the medical staff when I get back in the locker room.”
The Knicks were already playing shorthanded, without key reserve Obi Toppin for the next several weeks due to a non-displaced fracture in his right fibula. Losing Brunson for a significant period of time would be crushing. After coming over in free agency this summer, he has stabilized the point guard position, averaging 20.2 points, 6.4 assists and shooting 46.3 percent from the field.
“Just went and talked to him in the locker room. He was in good spirits,” Immanuel Quickley said after the Knicks’ season-high fourth straight win. “He’s a tough dude. That’s who he’s been for us all year. Whether it’s been scoring, falling on the floor, getting back up, defense, he’s been a big part of our team.”
Brunson wasn’t made available to the media.
After a few down games, he was playing well against the Kings, scoring 18 points in 27 minutes on 7 of 14 shooting. Without Brunson, Thibodeau can go back to personal favorite Derrick Rose, who was recently taken out of the rotation in favor of second-year guard Miles McBride.
“Everything is on the table,” Thibodeau said.
The Knicks have featured rare night-to-night continuity in today’s NBA, a team that hasn’t had to play without any of its three top players this season. Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett have started all 27 games. But that may change this week with Brunson’s health now a question mark.