It’s a reflex to go to the dark place. Follow enough sports in this town — especially the Knicks, Jets, Mets — and you know what I’m talking about.
Murphy’s Law, always applicable.
So for about 45 minutes Sunday in Cleveland, with Jalen Brunson in locker room at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse after suffering an apparent non-contact knee injury, the doomsday questions began percolating:
Should Julius Randle just have shoulder surgery now?
Should the Knicks still re-sign OG Anunoby to a massive deal even if they’re unsure how the roster construction fits in the playoffs?
Why trade for a disgruntled star before next season if Brunson isn’t going to play?
What about the futures of the front office and Tom Thibodeau since their contracts will be expiring after next season?
Why do the Cavaliers assault eardrums with unnecessary loud noises from their arena speakers?
The last question remains annoyingly prevalent. Fortunately, we can pump the brakes on the first four. The injury, which kept Brunson in street clothes for Tuesday’s 116-100 ugly defeat to the Hawks, was the result of a collision of knees a few seconds before the point guard went limp-legged, not a snapping of ligaments. The diagnosis, confirmed by a clean MRI exam, was a “knee contusion,” according to Thibodeau.
Bruises typically don’t ruin seasons.
“It’s a lot better than it was,” the coach said Tuesday.
The Brunson contusion roller coaster became a quick and hard lesson on the fickleness of the circumstances. One moment there’s hope of a run to the conference finals and a clear path to improvement in the summer, the next we’re tearing down the plan and waiting for updates from the Hospital for Special Surgery.
With Randle inching closer to a return but still unavailable, Brunson is the thread holding this entire operation together. Lose him, lose hope. That was reiterated Tuesday when the Knicks were bombed early by the Hawks, when the home team trailed by 20 points in the first quarter and couldn’t recover because they collected enough bricks (36 missed 3-pointers!) to fortify the third little pig’s home.
The Hawks stink and were missing Trae Young, but the Knicks were off and couldn’t lean on Brunson to save them from horrendous shooting nights by Donte DiVincenzo and Alec Burks. The Burks experiment, just a couple weeks old, is quickly running its course. Perhaps Brunson’s return — and Shake Milton’s arrival — will push him out of the rotation. He’s been an overwhelming negative.
As they wait, the Knicks are part of a group of several injury-managing teams fighting for No. 3 in the East. The goal is to avoid the seemingly unstoppable Celtics until the conference finals.
The Bucks should be a lesser concern. Despite their surge out of the All-Star break, they’re older and vulnerable. The Celtics got the better of the round-about Dame Lillard-for-Jrue Holiday swap, just in terms of fit and championship aspirations.
The Knicks are clearly a step below but a dark horse, a threat of unknown veracity. When whole and peaking in January, no team in the NBA was better. The Knicks went 15-2 right after Anunoby arrived. Then the two big injuries hit — to Anunoby and Randle — and the calculus shifted.
With 20 games remaining, we’re pondering whether Randle and Anunoby — both expected to return this month — can recover their January form, and whether they’ll have enough time to rekindle the chemistry necessary for a postseason run.
You can bank on Thibodeau playing his starters more in the playoffs. Just like every other team. Miles McBride won’t be logging 45 minutes.
The good news for the Knicks, who dropped to fifth in the East, is their immediate competition is dealing with similar issues.
The No. 3 Cavs just lost Donovan Mitchell for at least a few games following a PRP injection to deal with a knee bruise (the same injury, coincidentally, sustained by Brunson). The No. 4 Magic are healthy but too young and inexperienced for serious consideration. The No. 6 Heat have allowed Jimmy Butler to coast and load-manage through the regular season. The No. 7 Sixers don’t know whether Joel Embiid will come back from knee surgery, while Tyrese Maxey missed Tuesday’s loss in Brooklyn with concussion-like symptoms. The No. 8 Pacers haven’t received the anticipated boost after trading for Pascal Siakam, and Tyrese Haliburton is slumping since returning from a hamstring strain.
There’s a world where the Knicks finish above all these teams. And that world is only possible by Brunson coming back.
