The Knicks aren’t a bunch inclined to seek sympathy anyway, and that will be a good thing Thursday night. Because if there is one city and one team that doesn’t want to hear about somebody else’s injury woes at present it is Philadelphia and the 76ers.
If there is one fan base that knows what Knicks fans are feeling right now it is Sixers loyalists, who had started to talk themselves into the possibility of a splendid spring, what with Joel Embiid steaming toward a second straight MVP award, playing at a sublime nightly level, before his knee grew cranky.
The Sixers are 3-8 since Embiid went on the shelf with a torn meniscus. They were virtually even with the Bucks for the 2-seed in the East when they lost their franchise player. They’ll enter play Thursday a half-game behind the Knicks for the 4-seed.
So, no: Philly doesn’t want to hear about how banged-up the Knicks are.
But that doesn’t mean the Knicks aren’t banged-up.
Doesn’t mean that even though Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo and Bojan Bogdanovic are scheduled to return when the Knicks and the Sixers resume their seasons Thursday night at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, the Knicks won’t still feel incomplete. We’ve heard from OG Anunoby and Julius Randle the last two days, first time they’ve spoken publicly since Jan. 27, after which both went into injury protocol.
Both sounded optimistic they would return — though Randle still cautiously asserted he hasn’t entirely ruled out surgery for his damaged right shoulder — and that’s a reminder that reinforcements are likely on the way in the coming weeks. And also a cue that for the time being the Knicks are still a reduced and vulnerable product, this at a time when a meaty portion of their schedule awaits.
“I’m feeling better and better so, yeah, I want to be back as soon as possible,” Anunoby said Tuesday.
“Every day I’m getting stronger. I’m getting better, so just taking it a day at a time, just continue to try to stay locked into what I have to do to continue to get healthy,” Randle said on Wednesday.
Still, when the season begins anew Thursday they will be watching in street clothes. The Knicks were able to survive their loss in the immediate short term, winning four of the first five games they played without them. But they lost the last four in a row before the break, aided by the absence of various members of Thursday’s returnees plus Jalen Brunson for one game.
It adds up quick. And the losses can multiply in a hurry, too. The East has become something of a jumbled mess after the Celtics, with the Cavaliers, Bucks, Knicks, Sixers, Pacers, Heat and Magic all fighting for position, all with similar records. Two of those seven are going to rise in the next two months to the 2 and 3 spots, the ideal place in the East in order to avoid the Celtics until the Eastern Finals at the earliest.
One of them will fall to the 7, requiring a play-in.
And all of them have lingering laments that will be immediately tested when the season resumes. For the Knicks (and the Sixers), it is the simplest and most common one: health. The Sixers have proven they can win without Embiid, same as the Knicks have proven they can win without Anunoby and Randle.
It just adds to the degree of difficulty. And it does make you wonder if this season may not be destined to be remembered for what might have been, as opposed to what will be, if the Knicks can’t get whole again with enough time for it to matter.
As closely bunched as the teams are in the East, one bad week can change an awful lot. The Sixers found that out as they tumbled from 2 to 5; so did the Knicks, who before their losing streak had crawled within a half-game of the Cavs and had grown even with the Bucks, and were sitting comfortably, as many as 15 games over .500.
One bad week, and suddenly they find themselves in an immediate challenge for the 4 spot, with a stern test awaiting them Saturday night when the Celtics arrive for their final regular-season battle at Madison Square Garden, the first since opening night. A month ago, this game was circled as a fascinating benchmark game; then Randle’s shoulder started to shout and Anunoby’s elbow began to yelp and things went a little sideways for the Knicks.
They aren’t likely to seek anyone’s pity, which is well enough. Because nobody is offering any. Least of all the fair citizens of Philadelphia Thursday night.
