Quickley was the first point guard off the bench in their season opener, a loss to Indiana. He played well in the first half but left the game late in the second quarter following a collision with Pacers big man Myles Turner.
He suffered a hip pointer on the play and didn’t return to the game.
“I think we all saw he had great impact when he went into the game in the first half,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Quickley, who had five points, an assist, a steal and a rebound in 12 minutes played.
New York outscored Indiana by five in Quickley’s short stint.
With Quickley unavailable, the Knicks used a backcourt of Alec Burks and RJ Barrett in the third quarter when starter Elfrid Payton wasn’t on the court. Thibodeau turned to the Burks/Barrett backcourt instead of going with either Frank Ntilikina or Dennis Smith Jr.
After the game, Thibodeau said he liked Burks in the backcourt because it provided the Knicks with more shooting.
“Alec in the past has played the point, had a big first half,” Thibodeau said of Burks, who had 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half. “It’s something that we obviously wanted to get a look at it. I think the more we do it the better it will get.”
Ntilikina entered the game to start the fourth quarter and played five minutes. If Thibodeau sees Burks as his best option at lead guard on a night when both Smith Jr. and Ntilikina are healthy, that may be a bad sign for the young guards who are in the final year of their contracts.
It’s a long season, of course. So Smith Jr. and Ntilikina should get opportunities to play when other Knicks are unavailable due to injury or illness. But if Wednesday night was any indication, Thibodeau doesn’t seem to be in a rush to put either player on the court after what he’s seen from them in training camp and the preseason.
The Quickley injury underscores the Knicks subpar point guard play in general on Wednesday. Payton had five turnovers in his 22 minutes and New York was outscored by 22 points when he was on the floor.
It’s fair to assume that the Knicks may not win many games this season if they can’t get better performances from their lead ball handler. And it seems like they’ll be without Quickley for at least the next two games.
Tough night for Knicks bigs:
Mitchell Robinson started at center for New York but picked up two fouls in the first five minutes of the game. Nerlens Noel entered the game and was whistled for three fouls within his first five minutes. New York was forced to turn to a smaller lineup with both big men in early foul trouble. The foul trouble contributed to New York getting crushed on the interior. Indiana had 68 points in the paint. The Knicks scored 52.
After the game, Thibodeau said coaches will continue to work with Robinson on avoiding unnecessary fouls.
“He’s been terrific in practice. We’ll take a look at how we can get him to improve to concentrate on body position and that sort of thing, and verticality and playing with his hands up,” Thibodeau said. “He’s a work in progress but he’s got a big upside.”
New York also allowed 21 points off of turnovers and 30 points in transition. Those are other areas to keep an eye on as the club prepares for Saturday’s game against Philadelphia.
