New York Knicks' Success Despite Injuries One of Season's 'Biggest Surprises'
Despite losing three of their five starters to long-term injuries at various points this season, the New York Knicks been able to hang around the Eastern Conference's top four.
OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson have all had lengthy stays on the injury report, but New York has had several role players rise to the occasion alongside point guard and first-time All-Star Jalen Brunson. With the NBA's 2023-24 regular season winding down, Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes labeled the Knicks' success despite the injuries one of the most pleasant surprises of the campaign.
"Usually, the loss of all three frontcourt starters causes teams to cave. The New York Knicks, then, are unusual in the best way," Hughes writes. "They survived the prolonged and simultaneous absences of OG Anunoby, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, somehow playing well enough to hang in among the East's top four seeds."
"Brunson's growth probably deserves its own surprise section... Maybe grit and resourcefulness like this should be expected from a team coached by Tom Thibodeau. But the Knicks deserve heaps of credit for holding up under circumstances that would have buried most teams."
Randle hasn't played since Jan. 27, while both Anunoby and Robinson were forced to return to the sidelines after brief returns. Despite that, the Knicks (44-30) currently hold fourth place, one game ahead of Orlando for fifth and a half behind Cleveland for third. New York hasn't held homecourt advantage in a first-round playoff series since 2013.
Josh Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Miles McBride has taken on extended opportunities in the Knicks' starting five while Precious Achiuwa has impressed off the bench. If all of them can continue to produce at this level, New York could be poised to surprise the doubters.
The shorthanded Knicks will be back in action on Tuesday against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
JONAH MORGAN