Karl-Anthony Towns was injured late Saturday night against the Bulls, forcing him to miss his third game of the season with the Knicks.
His inside and outside presence was greatly missed in Monday night's 103-94 loss to the Magic, with Tom Thibodeau lamenting what was a “no-energy game” for the Knicks.
The Knicks officially named Towns' injury a right knee tendinopathy, also known as jumper's knee, and announced it was the same condition that forced him out of action earlier in the season.
The 29-year-old Towns played 34.6 minutes per game in his first season in New York, his most since playing with the Timberwolves in 2017-18.
Jericho Sims started in his place and had 4 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes.
“No matter who is there, it's the next player mentality. Obviously he brings a lot to the game, but to say we couldn't have done a lot without him is a team that gave it his all. It’s not fair to the other players,” Jalen Brunson said of Towns. “No matter what happens, you have to be ready to play with energy.”
Backup point guard Myles McBride also missed his fourth straight game with a hamstring injury.
Thibodeau reiterated that center Mitchell Robinson (ankle) is still waiting for clearance to resume practice, saying, “That's probably the next step, so just rehabbing.”
He has a lot of benchmarks to clear, but if he meets them he'll be on the court. ”
Robinson, who hasn't spoken to the media since being injured in the playoffs last spring, complained to fans on social media about the slow rehabilitation process in a post on Monday's X.
“It's so amazing that you all know what happened and still blame me and wonder why I would act like that,” Robinson wrote. “I love you all.”
Paolo Banchero (return conditioning), Franz Wagner (oblique), Moe Wagner (knee), Jalen Suggs (back) and Gary Harris (hamstring) were out for Magic.
