Knicks forward OG Anunoby won’t be available for Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 at Indiana. He’s listed as out on the team’s official injury report due to the left hamstring strain that also caused him to miss Game 3.
Anunoby’s status for the rest of the series is uncertain after he left Wednesday’s game when he came up limping with pain in his hamstring area. Even though Anunoby wasn’t considered likely to play in either game at Indianapolis, the organization decided it was best to have him make the trip.
“Our medical team is here, so it makes sense [for Anunoby to be in Indianapolis),” coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “So just keep working at it and we’ll see where he is every day.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Jalen Brunson admitted he took a bad shot in the final seconds Friday night when New York had a chance to tie the game, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. With the Knicks trailing by three points, Brunson was determined to shoot before the Pacers had a chance to send him to the line, but he wound up launching an off-balance three-point attempt that was far off the mark. “There’s times where teams foul up three, and I’ll leave it at that,” Brunson said. “I just made a bad decision.” Brunson still appeared to be bothered by a foot injury that sidelined him for part of Game 2, Katz adds. However, he managed to play 38 minutes and doesn’t appear on the injury report for Sunday.
- Alec Burks, who had barely played in the postseason before Friday night, provided an unexpected lift for the Knicks in Game 3, notes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. The veteran swingman logged 21 minutes and scored 14 points as injuries forced Thibodeau to reach deep into his bench. “I think him coming in and not playing for that long, staying ready, I think him mentally being ready, mentally giving us a spark, our offense, was big for us,” Isaiah Hartenstein said.
- After Rick Carlisle complained about the officiating in the first two games of the series, the Pacers seemed to get a better whistle Friday night, observes Barbara Barker of Newsday. Among the crucial calls that went Indiana’s way, according to Barker, was an apparent goaltend that wasn’t called when Myles Turner blocked Josh Hart‘s layup attempt with 2:03 left to play.
- Plenty of Knicks legends have been spotted at Madison Square Garden since the playoffs began, but Charles Oakley isn’t among them. Oakley hasn’t been in the arena since he was ejected following a 2017 scuffle with security, and a spokesperson for the organization tells Dan Gelston of The Associated Press that he wasn’t invited to attend. Oakley insists he won’t consider going to MSG until he hears from team owner James Dolan. “They’ve got to apologize,” he said. “We’ll go from there. Can (Dolan) be man enough to say, mistakes happen. And he made one.”
Hope Oakley can be at the games. It’s awesome seeing Marbury, Ewing, Starks, Melo, Clyde, etc courtside.
Burkes 21 mins, 14 pts.
McBride 29 mins
Achiuwa 24 mins
Sims 4 mins.
Milton 0 mins.
Knicks not winning. With starters playing 40 mins plus.
Hart 43 mins
Donte 42 mins.
Play everyone Thibs.
Don’t expect OG back. All about next yr.
Why,
Every team goes to 7-8 man rotations in the playoffs.
Sims and Milton fill time when there’s garbage minutes left in the game.
Thibs is Thibs…
Gotta expect this and the injuries that come with this…
Knicks looked burnt out to me.
Let’s be honest my fellow Knicks fans. Thibs has ran these starters in the ground and they are clearly out of gas. This stubborn enept coach waits until OG Anuaby joins the Mash Unit of injured players before he gives Alex Burkes a sniff of action. As well as this team has overchived this year we won’t get to the promise land with this stubborn enept coach. If we lose this series I hope Dolan fires this fraud who is riding these starters like they are mules or Donkeys. Smh. We were down over 30 at the end of the third quarter and he still playing the starters. Thank God no one got hurt because he would be the most hated man in NY. Tuesday is a must win game. Please put our knicks on the nebulalizers because they are clear out of breath and gassed thanks to Thibs the master of disaster when it comes to his delusional enept lineups and subsution patterns.