Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks are currently in the process of winding down their regular season schedule in preparation for the upcoming NBA playoffs, where they will likely get to host at least one playoff series when they get there. Brunson recently put up a career high of 60 points in a road loss vs the San Antonio Spurs and has had to carry a tremendously heavy workload for a Knicks team that is dealing with several injuries, including to starting forwards Julius Randle and OG Anunoby.
Anunoby has been in and (mostly) out of the lineup since joining the Knicks before the trade deadline as part of a trade with the Toronto Raptors revolving around himself along with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. The talented small forward looked incredible when he was in the starting lineup to begin his Knicks tenure, but a lingering elbow injury from which he briefly returned but has since been sidelined again has been a major point of concern for the Knicks this season.
Recently, prior to the Knicks' Sunday evening home game vs the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden, New York head coach Tom Thibodeau was asked point blank whether or not there was concern from the medical staff about whether or not Anunoby could return at all this season.
“Just deal with reality day to day,” was Thibodeau's tight-lipped answer, per Fred Katz of The Athletic on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
What is the Knicks' ceiling?
When they had their ideal lineup all intact, the Knicks looked like a true juggernaut back in January, compiling several impressive wins during that stretch, including a blowout home win vs Nikola Jokic and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Since then, New York has dealt with an unbelievably bad injury bug, and it has taken a Herculean effort from Brunson to keep the team afloat in the standings, where they now look like locks to at the very least avoid the dreaded Play-In round and guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs.
Still, when compared to other Eastern Conference contenders, there is a decided lack of “star power” on the Knicks roster. As great as Brunson is, his small size makes him relatively easy to game plan for in the playoffs, especially considering that New York lacks a legitimate number two shot creating option to help alleviate some of the pressure.
In theory, that void should be filled by Randle, but the former Kentucky Wildcat's two historic meltdowns in each of his Knicks playoff appearances might cause some hesitancy on that front. Of course, in many situations, the NBA playoffs come down to which team can get the most stops down the stretch, and the Knicks certainly have the personnel and head coach to do just that. There really isn't a weak defender in New York's entire rotation outside of Bogdan Bogdanovic, who profiles more as a microwave scorer off of the bench than a key part of the Knicks' roster.
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