In the aftermath of their first loss in nearly three weeks, the Knicks tried to ignore it and understand that their health was an issue they could no longer ignore.
All three potential starters, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, have missed at least four consecutive games.
Quentin Grimes, another top-eight member of the rotation, missed the past two games with a knee sprain.
The domino effect meant much more playing time for players not used to this kind of workload, and it also caused opponents, especially the Lakers, to focus more on Jalen Brunson.
“We are missing [Anunoby]. We’re missing his defensive ability, his knockdown shot ability,” Josh Hart said. “We are missing [Randle]All-Star for a Very Good Cause, 25 [points] and 9 [rebounds] every night. Quentin’s ability to space the floor.
“I don’t think we lost just one player. We’re missing three big men and obviously Mitch has been out for months. But you know, we’re missing four key players ( It’s always tough when you’re missing three of your starters.”
The good news for Anunoby and Grimes is that they are considered “day-to-day,” according to Tom Thibodeau, but neither has spoken to the media since their respective injuries.
Grimes’ knock was obvious.
He stepped on his right foot Tuesday while trying to guard Utah’s Collin Sexton, causing his ankle to buckle and his knee to buckle in obvious pain.
Grimes returned for that game, but Thibodeau added a semi-optimistic update to the injury report on Saturday that said “the guard is working a little harder.”
Anunoby is more of a mystery.
He had kinesio tape on his shooting elbow during the game, but he didn’t feel comfortable during warmups in Charlotte last week, resulting in a late scratch.
He has not played since due to elbow inflammation.
“When he’s healthy enough and feels comfortable and trusts his body, he’ll be out there,” Thibodeau said. This is the standard answer from coaches and often means it’s a matter of pain tolerance and it’s up to the player.
Anunoby was never as durable and committed to playing every game as, say, Julius Randle.
He hasn’t played in a 70-game season since his rookie season in 2017-18.
The Knicks certainly missed his presence on Saturday, their nine-game winning streak coming to an end.
Anunoby would have been guarding LeBron James.
Instead, that job went to Hart and Precious Achiuwa, who each logged 42 minutes.
Hart, who played for Team USA over the summer and entered training camp already tired, is feeling the effects.
He’s a valuable glue in the lineup, but his shots were unreliable at just 30.2 percent from beyond the arc, including going 5-for-16 overall from the field on Saturday.
He is averaging a team-high 38.7 minutes over the past five games.
“This season has been a bit of trial and error, to be honest,” Hart said. “I just felt like I was tired already coming into the season, so I’m just trying to fight, trying to do extra work, trying to recover, trying to do things like that, but it’s ups and downs. , there were ups and downs.
“I was having a hard time hitting the ball. Probably at the moment I have to focus on getting more reps, but I hope my body can withstand it. If not, it is what it is. Just like this right now You have to focus on being in the moment, even if you’re playing 40. [minutes], put in the extra effort and hope that my body can stay in this shape and finish the season. ”
Hart didn’t just misfire on Saturday.
While the Lakers executed a game plan to blitz Brunson, the rest of the Knicks made just 26 field goals on 69 attempts (37 percent).
Many of the mistakes were possible.
That was the biggest reason the Knicks were able to ignore the loss instead of stewing over it.
For example, Isaiah Hartenstein missed several layups and hit only 2-of-9 shots.
“We were just missing shots,” Hartenstein said. “From top to bottom. It was one of those games where I missed something. I couldn’t catch the ball for some weird reason. I mean, it was just one of those games. They… We played a good match, but I think we missed a lot of easy chances.
“We just have to let it go and move on to the next thing. I think that’s our approach right now is to see what we did wrong and build from there. But at the end of the day, we just missed shots.”
And they can also put some bodies back together.
“Our margin of error is really small right now,” Thibodeau said.
