Injuries could put the Knicks’ magical season in danger of coming to an untimely end

The Knicks entered the postseason without Randle but have since lost Bojan Bogdanovic, Mitchell Robinson, and, most recently, OG Anunoby due to injuries. While Anunoby has a chance to return in this series, both Bogdanovic and Robinson are done for the season, leaving New York spread incredibly thin.

Compounding the issue, all eyes will be on the right foot of superstar Jalen Brunson as he nurses his own injury. He injured his foot in the first quarter of Game 2 against the Pacers and missed the entire second quarter. He returned in the second half to propel New York to victory behind 29 points and five assists. However, Brunson is listed as questionable entering Game 3. Easily the team’s most valuable player, Brunson needs to stay healthy.

The Knicks are feeling their injury losses

With Randle, Bogdanovic, and Robinson sidelined, the Knicks are missing a lot of size from their lineup. Randle is an All-Star forward who averaged 24 points per game before his injury. Bogdanovic was also handing in 15 points per game and Robinson ranked first in the NBA in offensive rebounds.

All three of these injured big men are key contributors to a healthy Knicks squad. But without them available, head coach Tom Thibodeau is forced to play smaller and is working with an extremely limited rotation. Only eight men took the court for the Knicks in Game 2 (and one of the eight was Alec Burks, who played just one minute).

The Knicks’ seven-man rotation is going to be difficult to sustain. Josh Hart has played all 48 minutes in each of the first two games of this series against the Pacers. And while Hart has played exceptionally well, Thibodeau needs to be careful not to wear his top rebounder thin.

New York has had a magical season led by the heroics of Brunson, Hart, and fellow Villanova Wildcat Donte DiVincenzo. Making it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals makes this season a success, considering the amount of injuries this team has had to battle through. But making it any further will be an incredible challenge for this Knicks team that is frankly dealing with far too many injuries to sustain a deep postseason run. However, that hasn’t quite stopped them yet.