Getty Steve Kerr and Tom Thibodeau.
The New York Knicks suffered another loss on February 29 to the Golden State Warriors, 110-99. This was the second straight loss as the Knicks fell to 3-7 in their last 10 games. With Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and others dealing with injuries, the Knicks’ struggles were expected. Steve Kerr, the Warriors head coach, understood that, too.
For the Knicks, they have to weather the storm. The injuries are, hopefully, the worst they’re going to be all season. It’s the reason for their recent struggles and until they get healthy, the struggles should continue. Speaking with reporters after the game, Kerr acknowledged that the recent struggles are because of their injuries.
“Obviously the Knicks were shorthanded tonight. They’re going through it right now from an injury standpoint. So we caught them on a night when they had to play their guys a lot of minutes. That’s never easy.”
“Obviously the Knicks were shorthanded tonight. They’re going through it right now from an injury standpoint. So we caught them on a night when they had to play their guys a lot of minutes. That’s never easy.”
–– Warriors coach Steve Kerr
Kerr doubled down on his take about the Knicks’ injuries, saying that a lot of teams go through this at some point in the season. He gave credit to Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Tom Thibodeau.
“Obviously, they’ve been crushed by injuries, they were playing better than anybody a month or so ago, but it’s all part of it. We all go through stuff in the season and they’re obviously going through it. We know their team even though we don’t see them often, we know Jalen Brunson really well, we know Josh Hart really well…Tom’s teams are always gritty and defensive-minded.”
Steve Kerr on Knicks: “Obv they’ve been crushed by injuries, were playing better than anybody a month or so ago…Don’t see them often [but] we know Jalen Brunson really well…Josh…coaching them last summer…Tom’s teams always gritty & defensive-minded…”
Knicks Injuries on Full Display in Loss Against Warriors
It’s getting to a point for the New York Knicks that this isn’t sustainable. Hart played 47 minutes, Brunson played 37, and Donte DiVincenzo played 36. If Thibodeau continues to play his guys huge minutes, which he doesn’t have much of a choice to not do, the Knicks could end up dealing with further injuries.
With the additions of Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, it was expected that they’d help get them through this stretch. However, Burks has had a rough first eight games, shooting 31.6% from the field and averaging just 8.5 points.
Bogdanovic has played well at times, averaging 13.3 points and shooting 39.5% from the field.
The Golden State Warriors opened up with a 14-0 lead and never looked back. It’s getting clear that the Knicks can’t win against good teams with these injuries.
Latest Injury Updates Are Promising for the Knicks
The New York Knicks need Randle and Anunoby back as soon as possible. Adding them back to the mix makes the Knicks one of the top teams in basketball, which was evident when they were climbing up the Eastern Conference standings when healthy.
Thibodeau gave an update on Anunoby ahead of the Golden State Warriors game, an exciting one for Knicks fans.
“He can shoot, dribble and pass. No contact [drills] yet but that’s the next step.”
Tom Thibodeau says that OG Anunoby has been cleared for on-court work but not contact:
As for Randle and Robinson, Shams Charania of “Run It Back” on FanDuel TV provided the latest update on their returns.
“I’m told [Julius Randle’s] rehab is going well, his goal is still to play this season…[Mitchell Robinson] has got to keep hitting check marks, we know he’s been dealing with foot issues over the course of his career…OG Anunoby, the hope is over the next 2-3 weeks he’s going to be back on the floor.”
For the Knicks, getting healthy is a must as this won’t get any easier.