After winning their first two games at Madison Square Garden, Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks lead the Indiana Pacers 2-0 in their first-round playoff series. Due to a foot injury that he sustained early in Game 2, Brunson was able to return and lead the Knicks to an exciting victory in the closing moments, overturning a second half Pacers advantage.
Knicks starting forward OG Anunoby was among those hurt and unable to play on Wednesday. He pulled his hamstring during a late-game breakaway layup attempt and had to go to the locker room, unable to apply any weight to that leg for the time being. Anunoby’s injury prevented him from starting Friday night’s Game 3 when the series moved to Indiana, and it doesn’t seem like things will get better very soon. According to Clutchpoints on X, the social media site that was once known as Twitter, ESPN NBA expert Adrian Wojnarowski stated on NBA Countdown, “I’m told that OG Anunoby will also be out for game 4 on Sunday.” “With that left hamstring injury, the Knicks team needs to be ready for the possibility that he could be out for longer than that.”
The Knicks are at a loss about what to do.
Almost the whole frontcourt rotation of the Knicks is now out of commission due to injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and currently Anunoby are all coping with different illnesses that have prevented them from playing. Head coach Tom Thibodeau had to further tighten his rotations in their absence, which resulted in Josh Hart, the starting guard/forward, playing the full 48 minutes in both the first and second games of the series against the Pacers.
Despite all of these injuries, the Knicks are still playing and winning, which is a credit to Thibodeau’s coaching abilities, Jalen Brunson’s star power, and the excellent play of the team’s available role players, such as Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Anyway, Game 4 is scheduled to begin on Sunday afternoon from Indianapolis, and it looks like OG Anunoby won’t be playing.
