Josh Hart, New York Knicks Ready to Move Forward Without OG Anunoby, Julius Randle
New York Knicks fans found only heartbreak in a late Easter basket offered on Sunday.
Mere seconds away from a demonstrative victory over the co-leaders of the Western Conference, the Knicks instead saw March end on a solemn note, as a winning mid-range double from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Oklahoma City Thunder escape from New York with a 113-112 victory. Combined with Friday's heartbreaker in San Antonio, the Knicks (44-30) dropped consecutive games for the first time since February's closers and failed to leap back into the Eastern Conference's top three.
Major members of the Knicks family were once again missing for the holiday gathering: Mitchell Robinson's return from an ankle injury was put on hiatus while OG Anunoby and Julius Randle were once again denied their Sunday-best, Knicks-branded attire. In the aftermath, Josh Hart, who has stepped in for Randle in the starting five, hinted that the Knicks have more or less come the idea of Anunoby and Randle being sidelined for the season, no matter how much longer it lasts.
"I'm looking at it like this is the team we're going to have," Hart said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. "I think that's how we have to approach it, that those guys aren't coming back and obviously we'll be pleasantly surprised if they come back."
"I'm not in those medical conversations or anything like that, so I don't know s--- from s---," Hart continued. "But we've got to approach every game and the end of this season that those guys aren't coming back, and if they do, be pleasantly surprised."
Head coach Tom Thibodeau was a bit more cryptic but almost equally dour: Bontemps report stated that Thibodeau planned to "deal with reality" when asked abou a potential Anunoby timetable.
The Knicks' medical drama emerged in full force during the final weeks in January: already missing Robinson from a December ankle injury, Randle left the Knicks' Jan. 27 win over Miami with a dislocated shoulder. Anunoby was then scratched with an elbow issue shortly before the Knicks faced Charlotte two nights later.
New York has impressively kept pace with the non-Boston boroughs of the East despite losing three starters thanks to the continued efforts of Jalen Brunson and the respective breakouts of depth stars like Hart, Precious Achiuwa, and Miles McBride. But there's no denying that something has been lost with so much firepower trapped in the medical ward.
Randle had rendered a slow start long-forgotten to the tune of a third All-Star Game invite, Robinson was on pace for a career-best year in rebounding, and the Knicks have 15 of the 17 games where Anunoby has dressed. Anunoby briefly returned for a three-game cameo this month but another flare-up of the elbow put him back on the injury report.
With eight regular season games left and no timetable on Anunoby and Randle's returns, the idea of the Knicks playing at full strength increasingly feels like a fantasy. Even if they were to make it back, there's no guarantee they'd be back at 100 percent: Randle rushed back from a late ankle injury and hardly resembled his All-Star self during the Knicks' 10-game playoff run last spring. Perhaps accepting that fact is the most peaceful way forward as they prepare for a potentially lucrative postseason run.
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks