The New York Knicks exited a brutal overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers with a far bigger concern than a missed opportunity to win a game. Late in the defeat, franchise player Jalen Brunson went down with a turned ankle that left New York scrambling for answers.
Brunson has avoided a severe diagnosis, but the news provided is alarming nonetheless, as the Knicks will be without their superstar for multiple weeks.
Brunson was in rare form against the Lakers, posting 39 points and 10 assists in 41 minutes. Unfortunately, his night ended in a sudden manner, thus opening the door for Los Angeles to prevail with a 113-109 overtime win.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Brunson is likely to miss a minimum of two weeks with a sprained right ankle.
"New York Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson is expected to miss at least two weeks after spraining his right ankle late in Thursday night's overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers."
To make matters worse, the Knicks suffered a 105-95 loss to the LA Clippers during their first game without Brunson.
Jalen Brunson to miss "at least" two weeks with sprained right ankle
Brunson, 28, is in the midst of yet another All-NBA season with the Knicks. He's appeared in 61 of the team's 63 games, posting averages of 26.3 points, 7.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 2.3 three-point field goals made on .490/.384/.825 shooting.
Brunson currently ranks seventh in the NBA in scoring and eighth in assists per game, which only scratches the surface of how valuable he's been to the Knicks.
Brunson has been the epitome of clutch throughout the 2024-25 regular season. Whenever New York has needed a bucket, the ball simply goes his way and the team can trust that he'll get the job done and deliver a win in a close game.
With Brunson out, however, the Knicks will need to change course and craft a different strategy for how they plan to close-out games.
The silver lining is that Brunson avoided a more severe diagnosis that could've kept him sidelined for longer. If he's able to return after two weeks, he'll still have time to get back into playing shape and potentially return to an All-NBA level of play before the playoffs begin.
In the meantime, however, the Knicks will have a mountain of questions to answer about how they plan to overcome Brunson's untimely absence.