Just when things were on the up for the New York Knicks with Jalen Brunson’s return to the starting lineup, the team was dealt a tough blow in Wednesday’s 101-92 win over the Heat. Late in the second quarter, Julius Randle secured a rebound and his left foot landed on Bam Adebayo’s foot, leading to a sprained left ankle. Randle didn’t return in the second half.
On Thursday, it was announced that the All-Star would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Therefore, he’ll miss New York’s final five games of the regular season and could wind up missing time in the playoffs, too. Hopefully, he’ll be able to make his return in what will likely end up being a first-round matchup between the Knicks and the Cavaliers.
Before New York makes it to the playoffs, though, Tom Thibodeau has some decisions to make with Randle sidelined.
What’s next for Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks after Julius Randle’s injury update?
3: Reliance on Jalen Brunson
Jalen Brunson was back in action on Wednesday after missing two games with a right hand injury. Before that, he was battling a bruised left foot that caused him to miss several games. Similar to how things were when there was no Brunson and New York relied on Randle, the Knicks will be relying more so on Brunson with Randle out.
While the final few games of the regular season are important, the Knicks’ win over the Heat gave them a four-game lead over No. 7 Miami. It’s all but guaranteed that the team will avoid the play-in with a playoff berth. If that weren’t the case, New York would be heavily relying on Brunson to carry the offensive workload. He’s averaging 23.6 points per game, which is second on the team to Randle’s 25.1 points average.
Thibodeau likes to leave his guys out there, but Brunson averaging close to 40 minutes over the next five games would only hurt the team. The Knicks will have a break between the last regular season game on Apr. 9 and the start of the playoffs, but Brunson doesn’t need to be run into the ground before then.
Luckily, New York is in a good enough position to not view the next five games as must-win games. That benefits the team as a whole, but especially Brunson.
2: The closing lineup
There’s no denying Tom Thibodeau’s stubbornness, but he surprised Knicks fans on Wednesday when he played Quickley-Grimes-Barrett-Hart-Hartenstein for the entirety of the fourth quarter. Brunson went to the scorer’s table to check in, but Thibodeau changed his mind and brought Brunson back to the bench.
The ball movement of that lineup was beautiful, the quickness was beautiful, and having three defensive masterminds in IQ/Grimes/Hart on the court was beautiful, too. New York held Miami to only 16 points in the final quarter.
With no Randle for the foreseeable future, will Thibodeau continue to roll with the above lineup to close out games? Or will he replace IQ with Brunson, who Thibs said was fine with remaining on the bench against Miami?
If Thibodeau was wise (and he’s shown that he can be), he would continue to give that lineup some run together to close out the season. It’s one that had never shared the floor prior to Wednesday. But knowing Thibs, he’ll go in the complete opposite direction. Knicks fans need to hope that isn’t what ends up happening. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!
1: Obi Toppin’s role
There isn’t anything good about Julius Randle’s injury, but at least fans can look forward to seeing more Obi Toppin. He’s dealt with a couple of injuries himself this season and with Randle being sidelined, it’s Toppin’s time to shine.
He’ll be eligible to sign an extension this summer, but that’s something that’s very difficult to see happening. It seems far likelier that Toppin could be playing his final stretch of games as a Knick, but he could turn some heads, especially if Randle has to miss time in the playoffs, too.
Now’s the time for Thibodeau to not continue to put Obi in the corner to act as a shooter, which is something that even surprised Kevin Love. Toppin can hit threes, but he isn’t a three-point shooter. If Thibs could use Obi in the way that he uses Randle, New York would benefit. Use his explosiveness and throw him into a few pick-and-rolls. Let him do what he does best.
Toppin’s averaging only 2.8 rebounds per game in comparison to Randle’s 10. It would be nice to see Obi make more of an impact on the boards to make up for Randle’s absence as well. The Knicks are going to need it.
Knicks fans want to see Obi be great, and now’s a perfect chance for him to do just that.
4 Best undrafted talents the New York Knicks put on the map
Identifying four of the best-undrafted talents that the New York Knicks put on the map. Many of these players went on to have great careers.