The Knicks faced the Heat at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, with significant absences in their roster. Jalen Brunson, who suffered an ankle sprain against the Magic on Wednesday, was the first notable absence. This was compounded by the early exit of OG Anunoby, who retired from the game due to a strain in his left hamstring, just five minutes after the first quarter began. Despite these adversities, the Knicks achieved a victory with a score of 140-132, thanks to the stellar performance of Karl-Anthony Towns and the key contribution of Landry Shamet.
Towns led the offense with 39 points, scoring 31 in the first half. Shamet, for his part, added 36 points, his personal best, with 30 in the second half. The absence of Brunson, who injured his right ankle on Wednesday, forced the Knicks to rethink their game. With Brunson on the court, the team had an offensive efficiency of 123.1, but without him, this figure fell to 110.3. Towns took the lead in the first half, making 11 of 16 field goals, including 6 of 10 three-pointers, which allowed the Knicks to take a 78-68 lead at halftime. When he’s that aggressive and things flow for him from the start… good luck. Him doing that opens a lot for us. In the second half, Shamet took over, scoring 30 points on 10 of 14 shots, including 15 points in each of the last two quarters.JB was absent today, so we all had to step up and contribute to our team.
Karl-Anthony Towns
Attention is now focused on Anunoby’s health. The player retired from the game at 6:52 of the first quarter and is expected to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his injury. Anunoby was averaging 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds before Friday’s game. Anunoby’s absence, added to Brunson’s, poses a challenge for the Knicks. Brunson is expected to be evaluated day-to-day due to his Grade 1 ankle sprain. Knicks coach Mike Brown is confident in the team’s ability to adapt and maintain their level of play.He was huge, coming out, being aggressive, hitting shots, and playing off the dribble. He was incredible for us today. That’s something that was important for us. We need him to keep that confidence and keep rolling.
Josh Hart
It’s about who’s next. Who’s going to be that next man? I don’t know. I just know that we all go out and play the right way. We have a standard that we’ve all adhered to and that we’ve all embraced. If we stay within that, good things will happen.
Mike Brown
