The Knicks lost their bridge game while adding a body to their walking wounded.
Playing with a skeleton crew due to injuries and trade pieces pending, the Knicks were predictably pounded by the Mavericks at the Garden, 122-108, with Isaiah Hartenstein aggravating his problematic left Achilles.
Hartenstein didn’t play in the second half because of the injury, which had been bothering the center since last season and caused him to miss two games during this campaign.
“I haven’t talked to medical yet,” said Tom Thibodeau, repeating a phrase he’s used in the last few postgame pressers.
It appeared Hartenstein was hurt again while landing hard off his missed floater in the second quarter.
The center, who left the locker room without talking to the media, remained in the game but never returned for the second half, with Jacob Toppin, the rarely used brother of ex-Knick Obi Toppin, starting the third quarter.
The Knicks were down to seven healthy players — minus most of their best in Jalen Brunson (ankle sprain), Julius Randle (dislocated shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow surgery), Alec Burks (trade), Bojan Bogdanovic (trade) — and Luka Doncic showed no mercy.
The All-Star put on a show with 39 points — including 15 in the fourth quarter —with 11 assists in 40 minutes, as the Mavericks (29-23) completed their NYC sweep after defeating the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Kyrie Irving added 16 points in 36 minutes of his first game at MSG in almost two years.
The Knicks (33-19) lost for just the second time in their last 12 games. But they also didn’t have much of a chance.
Outside of Donte DiVincenzo, who dropped a team-high 36 points, the home team had no reliable offense.
With Hartenstein out, the Knicks leaned on regular G-Leaguer Charlie Brown Jr. and Taj Gibson, who was unemployed last week until signing a 10-day contract at 38 years old.
Thibodeau showed little faith in Toppin, so the Knicks were mostly rolling with a six-man rotation.
To their credit, the Knicks were feisty. They never led in the game and trailed by as many as 20 but never let go of the rope. They even cut the deficit to eight with about 3:30 left, giving the crowd fleeting hope of a comeback.
The Mavericks responded with four straight points to seal their win.
Josh Hart recorded his second triple-double while logging 39 minutes with 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Miles McBride dropped 21 points in 45 minutes, converting a highlight and-1 tomahawk jam to ignite the fans. Precious Achiuwa grabbed 16 boards in 42 minutes.
“We were just playing hard. Obviously, we were down guys so the biggest thing was trying to play hard, compete,” Hart said. “I think we did that at a high level. I feel like a couple tough plays down the stretch that it didn’t help it didn’t go our way. But we fought and competed. NBA, you don’t dwell on it. Right back on Saturday.”
It was the second time this season the Knicks played on the day of a massive trade. The first time, back on Dec. 30, they were shorthanded and lost in Indiana. This time, they were even worse off without Brunson and Randle.
And they lost again while losing their starting center.
