Jalen Brunson returned from his first career All-Star appearance and the Knicks focused on getting healthy and rediscovering form over the final 27 games of the regular season.
“I think we can be better than we were before,” Brunson said after Wednesday’s practice. “We had a great time [14-2 record in] January and mid-February obviously ended badly. [with five losses in six games before the All-Star break].
“But we still have a lot of things we can improve on. We’re in a good position, but there’s still room for improvement. There’s a lot of work to do.”
Injury reinforcements appear to be imminent as Donte DiVincenzo (hamstring) has been removed from the team’s official injury report, but Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles tendon) and Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) have been ruled out for the second day in a row. After practicing, he is listed as a candidate for Thursday’s game. .
“Oh, they’re gone again, let’s see where they are.” [Thursday]” said Tom Thibodeau. “That’s a good sign that they felt good. They did a good job today.”
Current league MVP Joel Embiid remains sidelined with the Sixers due to a knee injury.
Robert Covington (knee) and De’Anthony Melton (back) also did not play against Philadelphia, and Nicolas Batum (hamstring) is questionable.
Thibodeau said center Mitchell Robinson is not wearing a walking boot after undergoing ankle surgery in December.
“Okay, I’m out of the boot. That’s the next step,” Thibodeau said. “I’m trying a little harder, but I can’t run or jump yet. But it’s coming.
“So you have to take it one step at a time. He does cardio, bikes, pool. He can shoot, but he can’t jump.”
When asked what was the coolest moment of All-Star weekend, Brunson said: [actor] Bill Murray. At first I didn’t know it was Bill Murray, and I thought, “Oh, this is Bill Murray.” It was really great. We had a nice little conversation. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. ”
