We’re about to discover whether there are limits to the Knicks’ magic, mantras and elbow grease.
They’re whittled to the Villanova bones after OG Anunoby joined the infirmary line, officially ruled out for Game 3 in Indy with a strained hamstring, and unlikely to play in Game 4, according to ESPN.
Even if Jalen Brunson plays (he’s “questionable” with a sore foot on the injury report), Tom Thibodeau’s squad will have exactly one of his season-opening starting five available Friday: Brunson.
That’s it.
The rest are either injured (Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson) or shipped off (Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett). The top players Leon Rose acquired through in-season trades are now also injured (Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic).
It’s an incredible dwindling of the roster and, aside from Brunson, Anunoby might be the most significant absence. There’s also no word on how long he’ll be sidelined, and hamstring strains tend to linger — especially the kind that sent Anunoby immediately to the locker room after clutching the back of his leg. There’s a reason the Knicks accumulated a 26-5 record with him in the lineup.
OG is the defensive equalizer.
And he looked like he blew a tire.
But if you’re counting the Knicks out because another player isn’t available, you’re not paying attention.
There’s a belief and confidence, hardened by months of operating understaffed and doubted, they bring to the court.
Down 10 late in the third quarter? Meh. That game will go down to the wire.
Now the score is close in the final two minutes? Meh. The Knicks will get a critical offensive rebound.
A starter is injured? Meh. Somebody will step up with a career-best season — whether it’s Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, Isaiah Hartenstein, Miles McBride or Precious Achiuwa.
They’ve all done it over the last six months.
For every team I’ve ever covered, “next man up” is a cliche that sounds nice until Kadeem Allen, Ron Baker or Maurice Ndour is getting extended minutes. Then “next man up” becomes a “rebuilding season” and eventually “at least we have cap flexibility.”
These Knicks don’t just spout the cliché.
“We actually believe it,” Hart said. “That’s what it is. Obviously you never want injuries and sometimes you say things just to give an answer and kind of get through it, but we actually believe that.
“There’s a lot of guys on this team that can start with other guys in this league, so when we say it, it’s not cliche. It’s not just we’re saying it just because it sounds good. We’re actually saying it because we believe it. I’ve got faith in every one of our guys. So with stuff like [injuries], sometimes it sucks, it’s like, ‘Damn we can’t catch a break.’ But we truly believe it’s next man up.”
The Knicks run into and through adversity, a product of their coach’s preachings being passed down and carried out by the team’s point guard.
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From what we’ve seen in two games of this series, the Pacers want no part of it. Indy folded in Wednesday’s Game 2 despite the superior depth and blamed (who else?) the referees. It’s the new wave in the NBA. Nobody ever loses. They just don’t get enough calls.
The Knicks were also guilty of whining about the Game 3 officiating in Philadelphia, but then they gutted out two more wins in a series many predicted them to lose despite being the higher seed.
Now they’re heading to Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a 2-0 series lead as 7.5-point underdogs for Game 3, according to BetMGM.
All because of injuries.
In the 1997 conference semis, with Thibodeau on the sideline as an assistant coach, the Knicks were depleted for another reason. Five of their players — and virtually all the best ones — were suspended because of a fight with the Heat. The circumstances, as many Knicks fans want to forget, were unfair. Most of the suspensions were thrown at players for merely taking a step off the bench, not getting involved in the fight.
The Knicks, as a result, changed their slogan during that Heat series. It went from “12 men, one mission” to “Eight men, one mission.” And it didn’t work. The Knicks lost three straight and the series.
Brunson’s Knicks can relate to the numbers, at least, even if the depletion is about injuries, not suspensions. They’re down to seven players who’ve logged any meaningful playoff time this year, and they can only stretch it to eight by incorporating Alec Burks.
It’s a daunting task, but the Knicks, particularly those of the Villanova tree, have done this before.
