All-Star guard Jalen Brunson missed his first recreation of the season Wednesday on account of a calf harm, which put Miles “Deuce” McBride in place to start out.
“Had some soreness,” the top coach mentioned of Brunson. “We’ll see where he is tomorrow.”
McBride, nevertheless, wasn’t seen on the ground throughout tip-off and the Knicks dominated him questionable minutes later on account of left hamstring tightness. That pushed Cameron Payne into the beginning lineup because the Knicks later dominated McBride out throughout the second quarter.
“Same thing,” Thibodeau described McBride’s harm. “Had some tightness before the game when he was warming up. I haven’t talked to medical yet. We’ll see where he is tomorrow as well.”
The accidents and confusion, nevertheless, didn’t cease the Knicks from a 119-103 victory to push their profitable streak to 9 video games.
It’s a New Yr. However the identical Knicks workforce.
Wednesday’s win provides the Knicks an opportunity to push the streak to 10 video games after they go to Oklahoma Metropolis on Friday.
Karl-Anthony Cities took cost centerstage on the Madison Sq. Backyard flooring: 31 factors, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal and one block. Some followers at house, nevertheless, missed out on one other excellent efficiency from Cities on account of a service dispute that couldn’t get resolved earlier than Wednesday’s win.
Optimum subscribers had been unable to observe the ninth-straight win as negotiations between Altice USA and James Dolan’s MSG Networks broke down on account of a dispute over charges. With the problem unresolved as of Wednesday night time, Optimum subscribers might miss out on an opportunity to witness a tenth straight victory towards MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, former Knick Isaiah Hartenstein and the Thunder on Friday night time.
They had been additionally unable to witness one other triple-double by Josh Hart, who completed with 15 factors, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. It was the second consecutive recreation Hart recorded a triple-double.
“Little more scoring-wise, little more passive making sure we got guys into position on offense,” mentioned Hart, who additionally recorded 23 factors, 15 rebounds and 10 assists towards the Wizards on Monday. “I might not need to look for scoring but make sure get guys in flow and rhythm.”
The Knicks continued to indicate that Brunson isn’t wanted to shoulder the offensive load to safe wins — even on an evening he didn’t play. Albeit towards a 7-25 Jazz squad, three Knicks scored not less than 22 factors: Cities, OG Anunoby (22 factors) and Mikal Bridges (27 factors).
And the shock starter — Payne — contributed eight factors, 9 assists, three steals and three rebounds within the win. Not unhealthy contemplating he discovered concerning the lineup change moments earlier than tip-off.
“When I was getting ready to do my little warmups,” Payne mentioned when requested when he discovered concerning the begin. “Probably right before they called the lineups. Halfway thought they weren’t going to call my name — I thought they were going to call Deuce — and I was going to have to run out there. Honestly. That’s how close it was.”
Added Josh Hart: “Great job. He’s a vet. He always stays ready, every game he wants more responsibility, more minutes. Thats what we want from him. Games like this, we’re not worried when JB goes down, we’re good, CP is gonna give us great energy, take good shots, get guys the ball and that’s what we need.”
No Brunson and McBride meant extra minutes for Tyler Kolek and Landry Shamet, who mixed for 23 minutes performed. Kolek, who dropped 36 factors and 11 assists in 40 minutes performed in a Westchester Knicks extra time win hours prior, was the primary guard off the bench for Thibodeau in Wednesday’s win.
His legs, although, felt tremendous regardless of the heavy workload.
“It was good,” Kolek mentioned. “Had a few hours in between, normatechs. Just tried to do what I could to recover and just be ready to go.”
The Marquette product completed with two factors and 4 assists whereas Shamet recorded two factors and a steal.
On Utah’s facet, potential commerce deadline targets loved good video games for themselves. Jordan Clarkson scored a team-high 25 factors on 8-of-19 taking pictures. Collin Sexton made 10 of his 13 area objective makes an attempt for 25 factors within the loss.
Initially Revealed: January 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM EST
