76ers Rival Knicks Dealing With Major Blow to Starting Lineup

As the Philadelphia 76ers geared up for their Saturday night matchup against the Denver Nuggets on the road, their Atlantic Division rivals, the New York Knicks, went toe-to-toe with the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks’ Saturday afternoon performance landed them a ton of praise as they defeated Jimmy Butler and the Heat with a dominant 125-109 showing. With that victory, the Knicks improved their current win streak to six in a row, which is currently an NBA high.

All is well for the Knicks on the winning front, but they didn’t escape Saturday’s battle wound-free. Amidst the 16-point victory over Miami, the Knicks saw their star forward, Julius Randle, suffer a shoulder injury.

After 32 minutes on the floor, Randle checked out with 19 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Shortly after he left the court, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Randle suffered a dislocated right shoulder.

According to Wojnarowski, the initial X-rays on Randle’s shoulder “didn’t show much damage.” To get more clarity on the setback, the Knicks’ star will undergo an MRI.

For New York, the initial tests likely had them breathing a sigh of relief. But as the team’s star guard Jalen Brunson noted after the game, the situation is not ideal for them.

With their win on Saturday, the Knicks progressed to 29-17 on the season. They sit in the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, one game game behind the 76ers.

It’s unclear how Randle’s injury will affect the Knicks’ groove at this point, but New York has been putting the Sixers and the rest of the Eastern Conference on notice as of late.

In their first meeting against the Knicks, the Sixers suffered their worst loss of the year. Coming out flat, playing uninspiring ball, the Sixers fell way short with a 128-92 loss against New York.

The two division rivals are scheduled to face each other again on February 22 in South Philly. Since that’s nearly a month from the start of the Sixers’ recent road trip, it’s unclear if the Knicks will have Randle on board for the matchup or not.