New York Knicks star Julius Randle is making progress in his injury rehab and joined the team for practice on Tuesday without contact, according to head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau said that Randle did “some” sort of practice, and that he was doing “some running, shooting, scripting, that sort of thing,” according to The Athletic's Fred Katz.
Mike Breen, the longtime voice of the Knicks on the MSG Network, said recently that Randle was “out of the walking boot” and likely to play at some point during the team's first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“As for Randle, he's going to play in the series,” Breen said in audio recorded by Knicks analyst Alex Benesowitz. “Whether or not he's ready for Game 1, that's to be determined…He's done nothing but therapy on the ankle. So there's a good chance he's going to play, if not [Game] 1, at least very early in the series.”
Randle missed the final five games of the regular season after injuring his ankle in a Mar. 29 win over the Miami Heat. He's going to be re-evaluated again this week after he was initially given a two-week rest period, according to All Knicks' Geoff Magliocchetti.
“Randle appeared in all 77 games before his injury and averaged a career-best 25.1 points with 10 rebounds,” Magliocchetti wrote on Tuesday. “He put up 69 points, 31 rebounds, and 15 assists in three games against the Cavs this season.”
The Knicks will open just their second playoff series in the last decade when they travel to Cleveland to play the fourth-seeded Cavaliers on Saturday, and they'll likely do it without Julius Randle for at least the first game. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. ET.
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