The New York Knicks' chances against the Miami Heat in the second round of the NBA Playoffs will rest heavily on the injury status of Julius Randle. The All-Star power forward was forced to exit the Knicks' series-clinching Game 5 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers after re-aggravating an ankle injury, and his status for the Heat series is now up in the air.

ESPN's NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski provided a bit of an ominous update on Randle's status as the 6-foot-8 power forward continues to try and do everything he can to get ready for their opening game against Miami:

“I'm told that there's gonna have to be some fairly considerable improvement between now and Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern for Julius Randle to be available in Game 1 against the Miami Heat in these Eastern Conference Semifinals,” Woj said. “This is the second time he has sprained this ankle within a month. … There's certainly going to have to really be some improvement in this ankle for Julius Randle to be ready to go Sunday for Game 1.”

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That doesn't sound very good. Woj also added that Randle “did not do much” at the Knicks' practice on Friday, which is obviously not a very good sign.

Nevertheless, Knicks fans will want to keep their hopes up. Julius Randle still has a day to try and get his ankle right before Sunday's Game 1 battle. Even if he ends up missing that contest, Randle should be back in the lineup at some point in this series.