There were plenty of reasons why the Knicks blew a 2-0 lead in their second-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers, but OOne of the biggest ones people pointed out was their battle against the injury bug.
Already an All-Star forward Julius Randle Due to season-ending shoulder surgery, the Knicks lost the big man Mitchell Robinsonstar two-way talent OG Anunobyand sharp recordings Bojan Bogdanovic during their postseason run.
That’s a lot of talent being sidelined, and it doesn’t even count Jalen Brunson, Jos HartAnd Isaiah Hartenstein all of whom were hampered by their own problems, but who were able to play through the pain.
New York overcame these issues throughout the series and had a chance to advance to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, but ultimately fell just short as their season came to a disappointing end on their home court.
Anunoby returned for just five minutes in Game 7 but was quickly ruled out, Hart was limited by his abdominal injury and Brunson left in the fourth quarter with a sprained wrist in what ended up being a double-digit loss.
While some may believe these lingering issues and extended absences are a reasonable explanation for the Knicks’ championship hopes being dashed, their All-Star Point Guard disagrees.
“I hate the story,” Brunson said on the channel Show roommates. “To be honest, that pissed me off. Yes, we didn’t have a full team, but I don’t want the narrative to be, ‘Oh, they’re hurt, so let’s give them a chance.’ No, we had chances to win that series and we didn’t.
“I just hate that sometimes people tell us that we got hurt or that there are injuries. Yes, they are part of the game, but that is not the reason we lost, we had chances to win, we were winning with those injuries.
One of the plays in particular that Brunson seemed to insist on as a major turning point in the series was Andreas NembhardThe team’s Luck threw 31 foot three, which broke a tie late in Game 3.
If New York had been able to get a road win there, they would have taken a commanding 3-0 series lead, needing just one more win in the next four games to advance. However, as things progressed, Indiana stormed right back and ultimately failed to achieve their goal.
With their stars healthy again and a pissed off and determined Brunson in charge next season, perhaps the Knicks will be able to make an even deeper postseason run.
