Precious achiuwa did not start. But he was done.
And Wednesday's performance against the 76ers strengthened his confidence.
With Karl-Anthony Town on the shelf due to a thumb injury, Akwa has been the Knicks' lone frontcourt preserve behind starter Jericho Sims, except for a few seconds in the fourth quarter. I played them all.
He was a catalyst down the stretch with his rebounding, rim protection, and overall presence in the paint.
Achiuwa was forcing the Six to deviate from the clear plans of Tyrese Maxey or Paul George, Achiuwa said.
The Sixers were without Joel Embiid or Andre Drummond, so there was a big red flag. The Knicks' frontcourt play on Wednesday wasn't a huge question mark without the Cats, although 6-foot-7 Gershon Javsel remained as center.
Sims provided 23 solid minutes with six offensive boards. He stumbled a bit with foul trouble, but his defense and rebounding were positive.
But Achiuwa, who is only 6-8 and traditionally a power forward, took over Wednesday when it mattered most.
He accumulated the following in the final two minutes of regulation and in OT.
Block of Maxey's drive, block near Maxey's game-taking drive (which was called GoalTend), second block of Maxey's drive, acrobatic up-and-layup.
[on the Sixers]
This is relevant not only to Philadelphia's past, but also to the Knicks' near future.
Machi, who is listed as questionable for Friday night's game against the Timberwolves, is dealing with intermittent knee soreness and a thumb injury in his shooting hand.
Sources say surgery is deemed unnecessary and there are plans for Town to return once the swelling subsides.
Two medical experts explained in the post how it's possible – how the town can continue playing, and the bone chip will heal without surgery.
“The bone chip does one of two things,” said Daniel Kaplan, a sports orthopedic surgeon at Nyu Langone Health. “One could be where the ligament in his sprained thumb attaches. [the bone]. …That would mean the ligament would be unstable, so that would be a bigger deal. It's something that requires surgery.
Neither Siegerman nor Kaplan treated Town or saw his medical records.
His injury status on Friday – technically defined as 50/50 – isn't much of an indicator, as Town played and missed the game after being listed as questionable.
It will be more difficult for Sims against him and Minnesota's Rudy Gautbert.
“It's been an up-and-down season for me just in terms of getting hurt, coming back, playing a little, playing a lot. A lot of things in between,” said Achiuwa, who missed the opening 20 games with a hamstring strain.[But] If you know how to play, you know how to play. Center, power forward – in any case. ”
