Jalen Brunson Goes Down as Injuries Plague the Knicks: Knicks Weekly Blog XII

I don’t know where to start. The Knicks just had their worst week of the year. Since the OG trade, the Knicks have had a terrible week on the court. Obviously, it was a good week off the court. You can click here to get my thoughts on the Bogdanovic/Burks trade, but almost everything went wrong for New York, in game. The injuries are the biggest hindrance for the Knicks right now. For the past two weeks, they’ve been without Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Isaiah Hartenstien, and Quinten Grimes. It’s been a difficult stretch for the Knicks player’s health, but all was fine. We had Jalen Brunson carrying the load, but Brunson could do so much before something happened to him.

In a game where the Knicks should have easily beaten the depleted Memphis Grizzlies, the Knicks blew a 20+ point lead. That put Jalen Brunson back into the game, and Brunson sprained his ankle. Either the Knicks have terrible injury luck this season, or Thibs working his guys are finally catching up to the players. All-Star break can’t come soon enough. These guys need a rest. It’s good that they are getting reinforcements in Bogdanovic and Burks because it will take some offensive pressure off Jalen Brunson and give him some much-needed time off to rest on the bench.

Brunson missed the game against the Mavericks and is still a game-time decision for tonight’s game. In all honesty, with how the East looks, the Knicks should rest Brunson until the All-Star break. They are already doing it with Isaiah Hartenstein, who was already ruled out for tonight’s game. The Knicks are going to need Jalen Brunson as healthy as possible until Randle and OG are able to return. Resting Brunson for a few games is not a problem for the Knicks in the long run.

Weekly Grades:

Knicks: C

Jalen Brunson: A

Isaiah Hartenstein: A

Donte DiVincenzo: A

Josh Hart: A-

Deuce McBride: B

Precious Achiuwa: B+

Taj Gibson: Another 10 Days!

Charlie Brown Jr: He played

Jacob Toppin: 100% better than Obi

Now, let’s see what the Knicks have up next for the coming week.

The Knicks have three games coming up before the All-Star break starts. It’s hard to predict what will happen in these games, I don’t know how Jalen Brunson’s health is. They are once again home tonight to play the Pacers. I’m not 100% sure the Knicks will even have their new trade acquisitions. If Brunson plays, we know the Knicks can beat the Pacers, but I can’t see them beating Indiana without him. After that, they play their first game outside of New York since January 29th. The Knicks head to Houston on Monday to take on the Rockets. The Knicks could beat Houston without Brunson, but we will have to see what they do with him. Finally, the Knicks head to Orlando to take on the Magic on Wednesday night. It won’t be the best week of basketball, but the Knicks have a lot going on All-Star weekend. Jacob Toppin is participating in the dunk contest, and Brunson is in the three-point contest. It should be a fun weekend.