Knicks starters Jalen Brunson (right ankle sprain) and Karl-Anthony Towns (knee soreness), and sixth man Miles “Deuce” McBride (left groin contusion), were all sidelined on Tuesday evening when the Knicks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. But those in uniform heeded head coach Tom Thibodeau’s mantra of next man up and the Knicks won their third straight game and fifth out of the last sixth before meeting up with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers last night on the road.
The Knicks’ 105-91 victory upped their record to 48-27 and they went into Cleveland last night as the East’s No. 3 seed, four games ahead of the Indiana Pacers and eight behind the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics with six regular season games remaining. The Cavaliers were 60-15.
The 76ers have had an unforeseen disastrous season, exiting Madison Square Garden 23-53 — the fifth-worst record in the NBA. They have been playing without their three All-Stars, as center Joel Embiid (knee) and forward Paul George (abductor muscle and knee) are both done for the rest of the season, and guard Tyrese Maxey (finger sprain) has been unavailable since suffering a back sprain on March 3. With these absences, the Knicks imposed their advantage.
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Center Mitchell Robinson (14 points, 14 rebounds) and guard Delon Wright (12 points, four rebounds, four assists) replaced Towns and Brunson respectively and made necessary imprints on the game. It was just Robinson’s 14th game this season since returning from left ankle surgery performed last May.
“I need to be able to play like seven minutes straight. I have been working on the conditioning stuff, so we are rolling,” he said afterwards.
Robinson self-assessed that his timing is gradually becoming more calibrated. “Legs are heavy, and the conditioning is not there, missing 10 months is a long time, but I feel like with all the practices and shoot-arounds, it is catching up.”
The contributions from multiple Knicks have been impactful with Brunson missing his 14th consecutive game last night and McBride his sixth.
“I think Landry [Shamet] has been playing at a very high level, and I thought Landry and Mitch gave us a huge boost tonight,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday, “particularly with guys being out. OG [Anunoby has] been on a tear, but we had a number of guys … Josh [Hart] had timely plays for us. Mikal [Bridges] had timely plays. [Delon’s] wall pressure was a huge factor for us. He played well also.”
Additionally, rookie point guard Tyler Kolek has played quality minutes while the regular rotation players recover. And Anunoby continues to drive wins, leading the Knicks with 27, the third-straight game he posted a team high in points.
The Knicks will battle the Hawks in Atlanta on Saturday and be back at the Garden on Sunday to host the Phoenix Suns followed by the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.