Knicks Notes: How team plans to navigate Julius Randle injury

A few notes on the Knicks’ short-handed win over the Heat on Wednesday night.

No one knew the severity of Julius Randle’s ankle sprain late Wednesday night. But based on the reaction of some of the Knicks, it seems like Randle will be out for more than just Friday’s game against Cleveland.

“Any time a guy gets hurt, it’s tough. Especially Ju. He’s an All-Star who has played every game so far. To see him hurt, it sucks,” RJ Barrett said. “We wish him a speedy recovery. We were able to see him after the game. Just need some time to unpack what happened. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

It’s unclear if Randle will undergo an MRI, but Tom Thibodeau said the All-Star would be further evaluated on Thursday.

He sprained his ankle when landing on Bam Adebayo’s foot after going for a rebound in the second quarter of New York’s win.

Some teammates checked in with Randle after the game. Immanuel Quickley said Randle was in positive spirits despite the injury.

“He was good. He seemed like he was good,” Quickley said. “I don’t know the severity of it. I know it was bad just by the reaction when they showed the replay. But he was in good spirits when I talked to him.”

Thibodeau referenced the Knicks’ solid play during injuries to Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson when talking about Randle’s injury.

“When you have a guy who’s averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds and five assists and doing the things that he’s doing, you’re not replacing him with an individual player,” Thibodeau said. “But what we can do is we can play great defense, we can rebound the ball great, we can take care of the ball. We know if we do those three things great, we can be in position to win. So we gotta make up for him collectively. That was the challenge when Jalen was out, and if Jules misses some tine, then next guy get in there.

We have a lot of confidence in Obi [Toppin], we have a lot of confidence in Josh Hart at the four, and Jericho [Sims] can play the four as well. It’s different but it’s still very effective.”

On Wednesday, the Knicks found a spark with a Barrett-Hart-Isaiah Hartenstein front line.

Those three shared the floor with Quickley and Quentin Grimes for the entire fourth quarter. They held Miami to 16 points in the final 12 minutes.

“Defense was really what won us the game,” Quickley said.

It was the first time the Quickley-Grimes-Hart-Barrett-Hartenstein lineup had played this season. Quickley was, again, brilliant on offense. He finished with a team-high 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He also had four assists. 

Knicks reserves combined for 13 assists on the night. In his last two games, Quickley has scored 64 points on 22-for-32 shooting.

The third-year guard credited his teammates – and film study – for his recent success.

“It’s easy when you have great teammates,” he said. “Josh on the short roll. Obi on the short roll. Jalen making shots on the second pass. Just watching film, trying to get better. See what they’re trying to do on the defensive end. And just trying to take advantage. Credit to my teammates and credit to film really.”

ONE WIN AWAY FROM A PLAYOFF BERTH 

The Knicks’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one. They need one win or one Miami loss to guarantee that they’ll finish no lower than sixth place in the Eastern Conference. New York moved four games ahead of the Heat following Wednesday’s win. They also earned the tie-breaker against Miami by winning the season series, 3-1.

The Knicks are two games up in the loss column on the Nets with five games to play. Even if the Knicks finish with the fifth seed, they aren’t guaranteed to face the Cavs. Cleveland is 2.5 games behind Philadelphia with five games remaining.

THIBS PRAISES JALEN 

Brunson returned to the court Wednesday after missing two games with a sprained hand. He wore a protective wrap on his right hand. He had 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting and three turnovers. Brunson didn’t play in the fourth quarter because the five-man lineup referenced above was rolling.

Brunson had no problem taking a back seat to Quickley, Quentin Grimes (23 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and the group. At one point, he went to check in but the five Knicks on the floor were effective, so Thibodeau stuck with them.

“The most important thing is winning the game and that’s what I love about Jalen,” Thibodeau said. “…. He came back to the bench and he’s cheering his teammates on. That’s what you want. You’re asking all your players to sacrifice and put the team first. And that’s when we talk about leadership. It doesn’t get any better than that. 

"My thing is there’s no show with Jalen. He’s just pure heart. The leadership is off the charts….There’s no agendas with him. Just pure heart and let’s win. That’s what I love about him.”