The New York Knicks lost Kevin Knox to a sprained left ankle against the Boston Celtics, according to the official announcement.
The New York Knicks already had injury misfortune, with Kristaps Porzingis‘ torn ACL in February 2018 and Courtney Lee‘s absence due to a strained left neck. Without many scoring options, they could not afford the loss of another important player.
In Saturday’s game against the Boston Celtics, Kevin Knox appeared to turn his left ankle on a drive to the hoop, falling down in pain. He was helped to the locker room and unable to place pressure on the injured body part.
Since Knox was fouled on the play and substituted to take free throws, the referees disqualified him from the game. It would have been a surprise to see him return, anyway, with how the injured appeared.
The Knicks eventually announced a left ankle sprain for Knox, with negative X-Rays, and he will indeed not return.
Kevin Knox (left ankle sprain) will not return. X-Rays were negative.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) October 21, 2018
An obvious blow for the Knicks and Knox, who was only in his third NBA game. It happened just one day after a 7-for-14 performance for 17 points that helped New York come back, only to fall short, against the Brooklyn Nets.
Any missed time for Knox slows his development, but it’s also just days into his NBA regular-season career. He’s 19-years-old and will make up the lost games eventually.
It also cuts into head coach David Fizdale’s rotation, which saw 10 or 11 players receive on-court time. That potentially condenses it, unless Damyean Dotson and Mitchell Robinson slide in, along with Luke Kornet, who was inactive for all three games.
In the meantime, the extra scoring load will go on Allonzo Trier and Mario Hezonja in the wing role. They both received significant time in the first two games, but that should consistent for however much time Knox misses, if any.
Either Trier or Hezonja may slide into the sixth man role, which Knox saw 28 minutes of in Friday’s game. Neither may match or exceed that number, but there’s upside for 20-plus minutes per matchup.
The pressure may fall on Enes Kanter and Tim Hardaway Jr., as the duo already leads the offense. Will it impact their volume of shots?
The Knicks will potentially move forward without Knox for an extended period. It’s an early negative in the 2018-19 season, but let’s see how they move forward with adversity already in place.