CLEVELAND — The New York Knicks went home Sunday night satisfied with their fortunate prognosis for star guard Jalen Brunson.
The night could have taken a different, more depressing turn.
The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-98 despite losing Brunson to a left knee injury that looked clearly worse than the team was saying right now. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called it a “knee contusion” after the game and said X-rays taken at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse were negative.
“Anytime someone goes down like that, it’s concerning,” Thibodeau said. “But after that, he felt a little better. He had an X-ray. He saw a doctor, so that news is good.”
However, immediately after the injury, the atmosphere was not so good.
Despite having trouble leaving the court, Brunson urged doctors not to rule him out of the game, and A’s trainer and Precious Achiuwa assisted the All-Star on the bench as he limped into the tunnel. .
The point guard returned to the locker room and tested how much force he could put on his left leg and whether he could jump. The Knicks initially announced that Brunson’s return was questionable. When the team realized he was in too much pain to play in the game, they announced his absence.
After what was perhaps the most courageous victory of the season, New York players, jubilant in the visitors’ locker room after the game, were told that Brunson’s injury did not appear to be serious.
“I asked him if he was OK and he said he was OK,” teammate Donte DiVincenzo said. “And that’s all that matters to me. … I’m not worried about Jaylen. He’s one of the toughest guys in the league.”
Brunson’s injury timeline is still unknown. The Knicks play at home against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. They will have two consecutive days off before hosting the Orlando Magic.
Asked if Brunson might play against Atlanta, Thibodeau shrugged, saying it was too early to say.
“Maybe,” he guessed. “It’s a knee contusion, everything came back negative, so we’ll see how he does tomorrow.”
On Sunday night, on the Knicks’ first possession, Brunson dribbled toward the foul line from the left side, lofted a jump shot, and awkwardly kicked his legs out to the side on the way down. Brunson was on his knee before he even touched the ground, and there was no obvious contact with Cavs defenseman Isaac Okoro to suggest an injury. Brunson jumped up and down a few times before collapsing onto his court and completely disappearing with 11 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
One possible cause of the injury was that Brunson appeared to hobble around teammate Isaiah Hartenstein’s screen and accidentally hit his knee in center field seconds before going down. But Brunson finished curling around the screen, caught the ball and moved, taking a knee in the air.
When asked about it after the game, Hartenstein wasn’t sure if he bumped knees with Brunson.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I saw him keep running on video. I didn’t really feel it.”
Brunson did not speak to reporters after the game.
The 27-year-old Brunson, who was named an All-Star for the first time this season, is averaging 27.7 points and 6.7 assists, both career highs. Miles McBride replaced Brunson 47 seconds into the game, but never came on. He had 16 points and five assists. DiVincenzo led the struggling Knicks with 28 points and six 3-pointers, while Josh Hart had a triple-double with 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. The Knicks (36-25) are alone in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
This rematch of last year’s Cavs vs. Knicks first round playoff series was already seriously lacking in luster with New York missing Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson rehabbing a serious injury, while Cleveland They were without Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert. About minor injuries.
Brunson’s absence means four Knicks starting pitchers will miss the game against one of the league’s best and hottest teams. Of course, New York is used to this. The Knicks have been plagued by injuries all season.
Hartenstein was in and out of the lineup with an Achilles tendon injury. Bojan Bogdanovic missed the game a few weeks ago with a calf injury. DiVincenzo withdrew from the game that night with a hamstring injury. Earlier this week, Brunson was unable to dress for the loss to the New Orleans Pelicans due to his neck spasms.
“That’s the talk of the season,” Thibodeau said. “We’ve been shorthanded since December, so just keep fighting. That’s all we can do.”
All-Star Randle has been out since January 29th with a dislocated right shoulder. He and Robinson (out since Dec. 11 with ankle surgery) both traveled to Cleveland with the Knicks, and Randle worked out on the court Sunday morning and before the game.
“He’s making really good progress, so I’m hopeful that will happen soon,” Thibodeau said of Randle. “I guess he wants to make sure the doctor is medically satisfied. He feels good about it. And once that happens, he pretty much does everything. Even though there was some light contact. , we haven’t done anything with the players yet. So that will be the next step.”
The Cavs (39-21), who fell to 3-4 after the All-Star break and fell from second place with this loss, got 21 points from Sam Merrill off the bench. Darius Garland had 19 points and Jarrett Allen had 18 points. They lost 2-1 to New York in the season series, a disappointing result for a franchise determined to show improvement after a gentlemanly sweep by the Knicks.
“I think we let our guard down,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We were preparing for a one-sided matchup and I think we let our guard down thinking it would be a little bit easier without him (Brunson). But when you give talented NBA players a chance late, they’re going to bite you in the ass.”
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(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
