The New York Knicks are running out of players. They don’t care.

The story was the same the entire year. Get healthy for the playoff run.

About midway through February, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anunoby were the three guys that the Knicks were waiting to return to the floor for the late-season push. Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Brunson were playing below 100%, too. All the Knicks had to do was tread water for the rest of the season, and help would be on the way. Precious Achiuwa stepped up. Deuce McBride stepped up. Bojan Bogdanovic stepped up. And the Knicks ground their way, game after game, to the two seed.

So when the Knicks came into the postseason sans Julius Randle, they were used to playing with a ‘next man up’ mentality. That didn’t change when Bojan Bogdanovic got tangled up with Nic Batum and was injured for the duration of the postseason. It didn’t change when Mitchell Robinson was ruled out for six to eight weeks with more ankle problems. When Jalen Brunson went back to the locker room after the first quarter last night, the Knicks were telling themselves the same thing. Next man up. Brunson may have returned, but OG Anunoby was ruled out with a hamstring issue not long after. The message last night from the locker room, after a 130-121 win to put the Knicks up 2-0 in the Conference Semifinals? Next. Man. Up.

Teams can’t do this forever. Josh Hart hasn’t sat since midway through the second quarter of Game 6 against the Sixers. Jalen Brunson’s lower body is slowly deteriorating throughout every game. You would think a team built like this would run out of gas.

Instead, the Knicks have routinely won rebounding battles. They’ve out-hustled opponents, out-gritted opponents, and nothing has stood in their way. Now, they’re 10 wins from a championship.

That being said - they’re on a collision course with their biggest challenge yet.

Pending OG’s availability, the Knicks are down three of their eight rotation guys from Game 1 versus Philly - OG, Bogdanovic, and Mitch.

Thibs has shortened the rotation, playing only seven as of late. Deuce McBride stepped up last series but has been quiet thus far against Indy. But we know he has it in him. Precious Achiuwa, ‘the Big Sneeze’, contributed 28 solid minutes last night off of the bench. We’ll need that (and more) from him.

Notably, Alec Burks played for about 40 seconds last night. He’s the next guy up. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see 12-15 minutes from him in the next game. He hasn’t seen meaningful action for the Knicks since late March, and while this stint in New York has been disappointing, Burks is a killer who’s shown up in the past for NYC.

Beyond that? We’re a couple of sprained ankles away from seeing Jericho Sims and Shake Milton get some run. No joke. But if we’ve learned anything from this Knicks squad, it’s that they’ve been ready for this. It’s not five dudes running out there with New York across their chest. It’s one team. And regardless of who those five are, the grit that they’ve shown as a unit has captured the hearts of basketball fans across the world.