Alec Burks sprained his shooting shoulder and was ruled out of Monday’s 124-99 win against his former team.
Tom Thibodeau said the 32-year-old, who has struggled with his shot since being traded from the Pistons, attended the morning’s shootaround with the intention of playing before being sidelined.
Even though Burks missed the Knicks’ first game, Thibodeau resisted adding Shake Milton to the rotation.
Instead, Miles McBride continued to log 43 minutes at shooting guard, while Milton played only garbage time.
The only subs to play at least eight minutes were precious Achiuwa and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Burks, Thibodeau’s favorite, has shot just 32 percent since joining the Knicks, has as many turnovers as assists, and has the team’s worst net rating (-11.5) heading into the game against the Pistons.
With Burks out and Quentin Grimes also sitting with the Pistons, Bogdanovic and Evan Fournier were the only active players involved in the February trade.
Of the Knicks’ three most injured players, Thibodeau noted that Mitchell Robinson is the closest to returning, as expected.
The center, who participated fully in last week’s practice, said, “It’s progressing pretty well,” but “I just need a little more time.”
When a reporter asked if that meant Robinson would move back in front of Julius Randle and OG Anunoby, Thibodeau sheepishly replied, “Assuming your guess is correct, yes.”
Robinson missed his 50th straight game after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his ankle on Monday.
“He basically needs to calm it down,” Thibodeau said of Anunoby, whose surgically repaired elbow has made him uncomfortable since returning to play.But he went through some things [at Monday morning’s shootaround]”
Miles McBride lives up to his name.
The 23-year-old guard, who started again on Monday, has traveled 56,286 feet over the past three games, averaging a league-high 3.55 miles.
No one in the NBA was even close.
It’s partly a matter of time — McBride was averaging 46.2 minutes in the three games before Monday — and having to chase down opponents’ front-line threats on defense.
The Knicks honored Willis Reed on Monday’s HBCU Night.
Reed, who passed away one year ago this month, attended Grambling State University, an HBCU institution.
The Garden showed a video about the captain during the match.
