After a highly impressive stretch of play which saw New York go 15-2 from January 1 to February 1, a wave of injuries finally caught up with the Knicks, who have dropped five of their past six games entering the All-Star break.
With OG Anunoby (elbow), Julius Randle (shoulder), Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) all sidelined and Isaiah Hartenstein missing the past three contests with a sore Achilles, the Knicks have been heavily reliant on Precious Achiuwa, and the fourth-year forward/center has responded well, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post.
Over the past eight games, all starts, the 24-year-old big man has put up 14.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks in 41.6 minutes. Achiuwa pulled down an eye-popping 19 offensive rebounds over the past two games, Botte notes.
“I mentioned earlier what Isaiah has shown us and then Precious coming in,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s road loss to the Magic. “Obviously there were things we liked about [Achiuwa], that’s why we traded for him. But he’s shown us a lot. And it’s given us more versatility, we have size now at the 4. He can play the 4 or the 5, can play it well. … So that’s a big plus for us.”
Achiuwa, who was acquired from Toronto in the deal that sent Anunoby to New York, will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Knicks give him a qualifying offer, which seems very likely based on how he’s performed of late.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Thibodeau is hoping to have multiple players back from injuries after the All-Star break, Botte writes in another story for The New York Post. Donte DiVincenzo (hamstring), trade-deadline addition Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) and Hartenstein all missed Wednesday’s game, but they could return next Thursday against Philadelphia. “I think we’ve had a great two-thirds of the season. We’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve done well, but we have a lot of room for improvement,” All-Star guard Jalen Brunson said. “So I think this break is obviously good for us. We’re the walking wounded right now. But I’m more than happy with what we’ve been able to do. So quick reset and just be ready to go next week.”
- While there’s still a chance he may need season-ending surgery after dislocating his right shoulder on January 27, Randle’s rehab has gone well over the past few weeks, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv. “I’ve heard during this period that there’s been some positive progression here during the rehab and I think that’s left people with even more reason to be optimistic that Randle will be back at some point this season,” Begley said on Thursday’s episode of The Putback with Ian Begley. “I don’t know if they’re out of the woods yet, but certainly the progress that he has made over the last couple of weeks during this rehab stretch has left people excited about the possibility of him coming back.”
- DiVicenzo is another player who has stepped up his game with Randle and Anunoby out. As Fred Katz of The Athletic details, DiVincenzo is drawing extra defensive attention lately due to his long-range shooting, with the sixth-year guard ranking second in the NBA over his past eight games in three-point attempts (13.3) and makes (5.3), only trailing Stephen Curry in those two categories. He’s averaging 26.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals on .459/.396/.750 shooting in 40.4 minutes over that span. “I think it’s his best stretch of basketball,” Thibodeau said.
The injuries and losses suck, but seeing Previous and DDV grow during this stretch has been cool. Those two are going to be huge for us in the playoffs.
True. That is a bright spot. McBride has played well (not great), too. Wish Sims hadn’t been sick so he could have taken advantage and gotten some playing time as well.
Achiuwa has pleasantly surprised me with his ability to play the 4 (share the floor with another big). I hadn’t seen that prior to his coming here, and assumed his perimeter shooting (which is bad) precluded it. But he’s made it work in our system. He can effectively check smaller/quicker 4’s, and they can’t keep him off the boards on either end. I’d love to have him back (RFA), but, as a 4/5, he’s likely well off the minimum wage line.
Should be interesting to see how Thibs manages his bench going forward once all the starters return from injury. Will he continue to burn the starters with long minutes, or does he balance out some time for them to rest now that he’s more familiar with the bench and their capabilities. Achiuwa has been superb and teamed up really well when Hartenstein was on the floor with him.
Considering how well some of these guys have played it would seem insane to run heavy minutes with everyone healthy. But you never know with Thibs.
Injuries will kill the season, Thins will burn out the remaining starters, they will get a 6th seed and get bounced early.