Jalen Brunson might not even miss a game.
Regardless, the Knicks star certainly avoided the worst.
He is listed as questionable for the team’s Tuesday night clash against the Hawks at Madison Square Garden with a left knee contusion — the same description the Knicks gave Sunday night during their 107-98 win over the Cavaliers.
Brunson exited just 47 seconds into Sunday’s win, and his initial reaction prompted fears he might have had a serious knee injury.
Brunson took a jump shot and grabbed at his knee while still in the air, landed awkwardly and went down on the ground in pain, still grabbing at his knee.
He was barely able to put pressure on the leg as he was helped to the locker room.
But initial X-rays came back negative, and the diagnosis stayed the same on Monday.
Referees can’t seem to make the right calls on Donte DiVincenzo in crunch time.
The NBA released their two-minute report for Sunday’s win, and revealed that DiVincenzo should have been called for a travel with 39.1 seconds left in the game.
DiVincenzo was driving to the rim and kicked it out to Miles McBride, who drilled a 3-pointer to give the Knicks’ their 107-98 lead and ice the game.
Just last week, the league said DiVincenzo should have been called for a foul in the closing seconds of the Knicks’ 113-111 win over the Pistons.
DiVincenzo dove into Ausar Thompson’s body going for a loose ball, which wasn’t called, before Josh Hart hit a go-ahead and game-winning layup.
Isaiah Hartenstein was not happy with Max Strus after the latter rocked him in the face.
During the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win, Hartenstein blocked Strus at the rim. Strus clobbered Hartenstein’s face with his right arm during his jump, and Hartenstein quickly went down and grabbed his face in pain.
Though the blow appeared to be inadvertent, Hartenstein got up quickly and started walking in Strus’ direction, appearing to shout something at him before Josh Hart held him back and corralled him to the Knicks’ bench.
Hartenstein had a substantial black eye after the play.
“I just went up, he just hit me right in the eye,” Hartenstein said after the game. “I got the block, he kind of went down [with his arm], it went in my eye first and then kind of scraped it. That’s kind of what happened.”
Hartenstein was originally called for a foul on the play, but it was overturned after the Knicks challenged.
The Knicks got high praise from someone who certainly knows a thing or two about championship-caliber teams.
Bob Myers, a two-time Executive of the Year who led the Warriors to four NBA championships as general manager, is now an analyst on ESPN and lauded Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
“There is an identity,” Myers said on the postgame broadcast. “We talk about identity and people that are watching say, ‘What’s an identity?’ You find out your culture. The Knicks have built an identity of toughness. And it does come from Thibodeau.”