Getty Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks celebrates after hitting a three point basket against the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden.
Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce had a change of heart about the New York Knicks following their spate of injuries after he forecasted them to make the Eastern Conference Finals in January.
Pierce likened them to an Instagram model who looks so beautiful online but disappointing in person.
“I’ll be on Instagram and I be like, ‘damn she fine.’ Then you catch ’em in person and you’re like… ‘This you?’ It’s too many filters,” Pierce said on the March 1 episode of Kevin Garnett’s KG Certified podcast.
“If you see them in the playoffs, you see the real thing,” Pierce added.
The Knicks enter Tuesday’s match against the Atlanta Hawks as No. 4 in the East but they have lost seven of their last 10 games due to a myriad of injuries to their starters.
All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson joined their injury list on Sunday, March 3, when he sustained a left knee contusion. But the shorthanded Knicks found a way to win 107-98 against the Donovan Mitchell-less Cleveland Cavalier, who still had Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
‘Knicks Need Another Year’s Seasoning’
The Knicks have bolstered their roster with the midseason trades for OG Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to add to their core of Brunson, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart.
“They got the names. They got the talent but they need another year’s seasoning,” Pierce explained. “For me to believe that they can get out of the first round based on where they are now compared to who they might have to play, they need another year to stir the pot because you’re dealing with injuries. You got guys in and out of the lineup.”
Randle (dislocated shoulder, Anunoby (elbow surgery) and Robinson (ankle surgery) remain out but are targeting to return later this month.
Knicks Officially Sign Shake Milton
The Knicks added more depth as they officially signed veteran guard Shake Milton on Tuesday, March 5.
Milton, 27, played four games off the bench with the Detroit Pistons before agreeing to a buyout. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists over 15.8 minutes. He started the season with the Minnesota Timberwolves after signing as a free agent to become Mike Conley’s backup. But he did not pant out in Minnesota as he only averaged 4.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists over 12.9 minutes in 38 games.
Minnesota shipped Milton to Detroit at the trade deadline as part of the Monte Morris package.
He will be available when the Knicks host the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, March 5, at home.
Jalen Brunson Avoids Serious Injury
While Brunson is questionable to play against the Hawks, he dodged a serious knee injury, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
Dr. Brian Sutterer, a sports medicine doctor who has a widely popular YouTube channel explaining sports injuries, explained what happened to Brunson, who limped out in the opening moments of Sunday’s gusty win in Cleveland.
“It almost looks to me like somebody who’s got a temporary footdrop,” Dr. Sutterer said on his YouTube channel after re-watching Brunson unable to walk in his power exiting the court after his knee collided with Cavaliers’ Isaac Okoro.
Dr. Sutterer likened Brunson’s initial reaction to a martial artist “who received low calf kicks that injured or stunned the peroneal nerve that picks your ankle up.”
Brunson’s inability to pick up his ankle as he walked off the court confirmed Dr. Sutterer’s suspicion that Brunson had a contact blow to the outside of his left knee.
“… because that’s where that nerve sits and could certainly have been stunned almost like hitting your funny bone,” Dr. Sutterer said.
He also added: “I don’t see the concerning things that we’ll usually see when a big major non-contact injury like an ACL, a quad patella or tendon rupture occurs.”