New York Knicks fans should've been riding a high after their team beat the Heat on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Instead, they were frantically refreshing social media for a Julius Randle injury update. He left the game with a little over four minutes left in the fourth quarter after taking a hard fall due to an attempted Jaime Jaquez Jr. charge.
It was evident immediately that Randle was in severe pain. He couldn't shoot his free throws because he walked straight to the back, leaving Erik Spoelstra to pick the free throw shooter. Randle's reaction told fans all that they needed to know.
After New York's 125-109 win, Tom Thibodeau said he was "very" concerned about Randle's injury. Shortly after, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Randle sustained a dislocated right shoulder and would undergo an MRI on Saturday night.
The X-Ray didn’t show much damage, source said. An MRI is coming later tonight. https://t.co/KLj4nSnF2a
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2024
Sunday morning rolled around, and nothing new had been reported about Randle. It's now Sunday evening, and the only thing that's known is that Randle won't play on Monday in Charlotte, which was expected.
Julius Randle is listed as OUT with a dislocated right shoulder for tomorrow’s game in Charlotte. Still no word on the extent of the injury or a timetable.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2024
Knicks fans still waiting to learn the extent of Julius Randle's injury
No news doesn't always mean good news. In this case, the extent of Randle's injury being unknown to the public has caused worries to escalate. Maybe Randle's undergoing further testing to confirm what he's already been told, hoping it isn't as bad as it seems.
The best-case scenario is that Randle will be out for only a few weeks. Steph Curry suffered a left shoulder subluxation (a mild dislocated shoulder) in Dec. 2022 and was back in the lineup for the Warriors four weeks later. If Randle can do the same, he could be back on the court in early March, just in time to finish the last few weeks of the regular season.
The only thing left to do is hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery!