Friday night, for only the second time this season, the New York Knicks took the court without Jalen Brunson. As expected, the Knicks struggled to generate offense without their All-Star point guard, scoring just 95 points and shooting 38.9% as a team in a loss to the Clippers.
The Knicks are going to have to find that offense somewhere as Brunson will be out a couple of weeks, at least, with a sprained ankle, the team announced Friday.
Jalen Brunson sustained a sprain to his right ankle. An update on his status will be given in approximately 2 weeks.
— NY Knicks PR (@NY_KnicksPR) March 7, 2025
Brunson’s injury was nasty looking when it happened Thursday night, when he drove the lane with 1:20 left in overtime against the Lakers, stepped on the foot of Austin Reaves, rolled his ankle and went down in pain. While he stayed in to shoot the free throws, he had to be helped back to the locker room. The good news is there is no ligament damage.
X-rays last night were negative on Jalen Brunson’s ankle, league sources said.
— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) March 7, 2025
Brunson is averaging 26.3 points and 7.4 assists a game, shooting 38.4% from 3. He is on pace for an All-NBA nod (as long as he plays four more games to reach the 65-game threshold) and could garner some end-of-the-ballot MVP votes.
The Knicks will need more out of Karl-Anthony Towns in the coming weeks — he had a team-high 23 Friday against the Clippers — and need one of their guards to step up with more shot creation. On Friday night that was Mikal Bridges, who scored 22 on 8-of-12 shooting.
The Knicks are likely locked in as the No. 3 seed in the East, leading the No. 4 seed Bucks by 3.5 games with 19 to play. As long as the Knicks don’t fall apart in the coming weeks — and they shouldn’t, this is still a talented offensive team — they will enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed. What matters most for New York is getting everyone healthy for the playoffs.
