Help Is On The Way For The New York Knicks

In the New York Knicks’ 118-105 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Karl-Anthony Towns white-knuckled his way through the game’s final stretch. The star center experienced pain in his left knee, briefly left the bench, and limped up and down the TD Garden parquet while grimacing in discomfort.

After Sunday’s defeat dropped the Knicks to 0-7 against the teams boasting the three best records in the NBA, the Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Cleveland Cavaliers, they bounced back with a 110-105 victory vs. the Philadelphia 76ers. Towns missed the matchup due to patellar tendinopathy in his left knee.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reports center Ariel Hukporti, who made his first career start in Wednesday’s win over the Sixers, suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. The rookie from Germany registered eight points and a block in 16 minutes of floor time.

Fortunately for the Knicks, help is on the way. Mitchell Robinson could make his season debut as soon as Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies, per Charania. The ESPN NBA insider adds that Robinson plans to suit up on Friday in Memphis or Sunday vs. the Miami Heat.

The seven-foot center, who’s working his way back from offseason foot surgery, has career averages of 8.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, and nearly two blocks and one steal per game in his six years in the association.

As much as New York will want to ease him in, due to the injuries to Towns and Hukporti, Tom Thibodeau’s team needs help at the pivot more than ever this season.

Speaking of Thibodeau, the Knicks’ head coach recently generated headlines. That came from him stating about Robinson’s return, “We’ve gone fifty-something games without our starting center. Guys have done a really good job stepping in.”

That seems to signal New York plans to start Robinson alongside Towns when both are available. It’s comparable to the latter working in tandem with Rudy Gobert on the Minnesota Timberwolves the previous two seasons.

It helps that Towns can lean on his time with Gobert, while many of his new teammates played in double-big lineups with Robinson and Julius Randle. They have a level of familiarity and comfort with units of this nature.

It also helps that Towns is more of a floor spacer than Randle. That allows them to avoid infringing on Jalen Brunson’s capabilities when attacking off the dribble while being able to support him with a seven-footer patrolling the backline on defense.

Given that the Celtics and Cavaliers frequently operate with two big men on the floor, having that option is paramount to the Knicks’ hopes of shaking off their struggles against the East’s top teams and representing the conference in the NBA Finals.

As Towns voiced after Sunday’s loss in Boston, “We’re all a work in progress until the postseason when you put all the chips and cards and see what the season taught you.”

New York quickly getting everyone in synch with a double-big lineup that could start and close playoff games likely represents the most meaningful work the Knicks will put in between now and the postseason.