CLEVELAND — The one player the Knicks have not had to do without all season will test their “next man up” mantra most of all
All-Star forward Julius Randle will have his sprained left ankle reevaluated in two weeks, the team announced Friday, meaning he will miss at least the final five games of the regular season, beginning Friday night against the Cavaliers, and possibly the start of the playoffs.
Randle, the team’s leading scorer at 25.1 points per game, has started all 77 games this season before departing late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s win over the Heat after landing on the foot of Miami forward Bam Adebayo.
The Knicks (44-33) have gone without fellow starters Quentin Grimes, Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett and Jalen Brunson for multiple games at different times this season.
But coach Tom Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s victory – which moved the Knicks’ ever closer to clinching a playoff spot — that replacing Randle has to be “a collective effort.”
That was evidenced by the five-man unit Thibodeau employed for the entire fourth quarter to close out the Heat, with 6-foot-5 guard Josh Hart manning Randle’s customary power forward position instead of primary backup Obi Toppin.
Second-team center Isaiah Hartenstein was the lone big man on the floor ahead of Robinson, with the small-ball group rounded out by usual sixth man Immanuel Quickley, and starting wings RJ Barrett and Grimes.
“No Ju, so we kind of had to figure something out. Thank God it worked,” Barrett said, referring to Randle’s absence. “Wherever somebody is down, we have a next man up mentality. We found a lineup that was working.
“Any time a guy gets hurt, it’s tough. Especially Ju. He’s an All-Star who has played every game so far. To see him hurt, it sucks. …We were able to see him after the game. Just need some time to unpack what happened. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
That quintet also was notable in that Jalen Brunson was held out for all of the fourth quarter after logging 30 minutes through three quarters in his return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a sprained right hand.
Thibodeau called back Brunson from the scorer’s table when the Knicks comfortably extended their lead midway through the final period.
With Randle also sidelined, Toppin was on the court with the other starters to open the third quarter against the Heat, and he remained in the game until Hart subbed in for him with 1:39 remaining.
He played 20 minutes in Monday’s blowout win over the Rockets and 17 minutes against the Heat, his most extended playing time since a 22-minute stint on Dec. 3.
“That was the challenge when Jalen was out, and now we’re getting Jalen back, and if Jules misses some tine, then next guy get in there,” Thibodeau said. “We have a lot of confidence in Obi, we have a lot of confidence in Josh Hart at the four, and Jericho [Sims] can play the four, as well. It’s different, but it’s still very effective.”
Sims has started 16 games at center in Robinson’s absence this season, mostly following the starter’s January thumb surgery.
The second-year big man also filled in as the backup power forward while Toppin was idled in December with a fractured fibula.
“We got a lot of guys that can step up at any time,” Hartenstein said. “I think especially Quick has done a great job even when Jalen was out…just stepping up. I think me, [Quickley], and Josh are getting more and more chemistry.
“Leading into the playoffs, I think that’s going to be something good that we can have different lineups. We play in different ways. I think that with lineups more we move the ball a little more…just giving Thibs another option he can use in his toolbox.”
As long as the Knicks are not in the 7-to-10 play-in round, the playoffs for them would start no earlier than Saturday, April 15.
Historically, the league has played the eight Game 1’s on the first two playoff days (this year that would be April 15 and April 16).