New York Knicks: Tim Hardaway Jr. dealing with plantar fasciitis

Tim Hardaway Jr. revealed his plantar fasciitis injury, which caused him to miss one game for the New York Knicks.

Injuries have impacted part of the New York Knicks’ roster in the first two months of 2018-19. Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier, Trey Burke, Mitchell Robinson and Kevin Knox all joined Kristaps Porzingis with an ailment, limiting the team’s depth.

Tim Hardaway Jr. became the latest Knick to miss a game, as he sat out Monday’s game blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns. It was deemed a heel injury, but before Wednesday’s matchup, head coach David Fizdale revealed exactly what bothered his top guard.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Fizdale revealed it as plantar fasciitis for Hardaway, who has tried to “manage” the injury’s pain.

"“I know he’s been fighting through it a lot,’’ Fizdale said. “I know he doesn’t want that as an excuse. I don’t want to put it out as an excuse. He’s been fighting through it for a while now. I don’t know if it’s had any impact on his shooting or not.”"

Prior to the Philadelphia 76ers game, Hardaway had shot just 34.4 percent over his previous 12 games, a stretch that started on Nov. 23.

Something that can limit a player over a long stretch, Fizdale said he will not shut Hardaway down, but will let the 26-year-old tell them when he’s comfortable enough to play and when rest is necessary.

Hardaway looked sharp against the 76ers, with 27 points — his highest point total since Nov. 20 (32 points vs. Trail Blazers) — on 7-for-16 shooting and three rebounds, five assists and two steals in 27 minutes; this was the fewest of any starter.

The Knicks still lost with Hardaway, but against one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. The Suns game, however, was an 18-point loss to the NBA’s worst record. Emmanuel Mudiay stepped up with 32 points, but the team shot just 40.4 percent.

It was a sign of how the Knicks will play without Porzingis and Hardaway, their top two scorers, and rely on either inexperienced players or those not known to take over top point roles.

Not an ideal situation for a team with just nine wins and continuing to trend down, but it provides other players opportunities to showcase themselves in the meantime, including Kevin Knox.

However, the Knicks might not need to shut down Hardaway at all. It seems like, based on Fizdale’s comments, he could miss the occasional game, but not a long stretch of them, for now.

Of course, if the injury flares up near the end of 2018-19, and New York sits nowhere close to the playoff picture, they may find solace shutting down Hardaway. It will negatively impact the on-court product, but preserve his health for the more important 2019-20 season.

In 31 games for the New York Knicks, Hardaway has averaged 21.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game on 39.6 percent shooting and 36.0 percent on three-pointers.