New York Knicks rookie forward Kevin Knox took the first step of his impending return to the court on Thursday, joining his teammates in practice for the first time since suffering a left ankle sprain last week. Knox left the floor four minutes into his third NBA game, as the Knicks took a two-point loss to the Boston Celtics.

“He practiced today, and that was a good sign,’’ said head coach David Fizdale, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post. “He moved well today, so hopefully we can get him back soon. I don’t know [about Friday], I’m gonna let the trainers tell me, but he did move around today and looked pretty good.”

The Knicks had started the season on a hopeful note with a win over the Atlanta Hawks, but the memory of a good start is now nearly gone as they lost the next four games. Fizdale hinted at a potential lineup change after losing to the Miami Heat by 23 points on Wednesday — and he has already moved around a couple of pieces in practice.

“We mixed and matched a couple of different things today. The staff and I will get together and talk about it,” Fizdale said. “Our guys, they understand I’m tinkering, just letting them know it’s no indictments on anybody, we’re just trying to find combinations.’’

“Again, my job is to put each guy in a position to be successful, so wherever that is, I’m gonna do it… I feel like after five games, we learned a lot about our team, and hopefully we can make some adjustments to help them out and make them feel more comfortable.”

Knox was inefficient in his debut, putting up a mere 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting against the Hawks, but he bounced back soundly in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The rookie is expected to have his struggles and Fizdale is likely to let him go through them, regardless of the changes he plans to make.

The Kentucky product is expected to be re-evaluated on Sunday, which would put him in line to return as soon as Monday for a runback against the Nets.