-
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
NEW YORK — Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau gave his latest round of injury updates on his injured starting frontcourt — forwards Julius Randle and OG Anunoby and center Mitchell Robinson — before Monday night’s game here at Madison Square Garden against the Detroit Pistons, and insinuated Robinson, who has been out since Dec. 8 following ankle surgery, will be the first of the trio to return.
“Mitchell is moving quite well,” Thibodeau said during his pregame media session. “He’s cleared for contact and all that. He’s going through practices and so just needs a little more time. But he’s doing really well overall.”
When a reporter followed up by asking if that meant Robinson would return ahead of Anunoby and Randle — both of whom had more mixed updates from Thibodeau — the coach smiled and said, “Assuming your assumption is correct, yes.”
Robinson hasn’t played since a loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8. New York eventually filed for a disabled player exception, which the NBA grants if a player is unlikely to return this season, but when the procedural move was denied by the NBA in early January it opened up the possibility that Robinson, arguably the league’s best offensive rebounder, could come back at some point this season.
Now, it appears that return is imminent, and he will again form a potent 48-minute pairing at the pivot for the Knicks with Isaiah Hartenstein, who has been stellar in Robinson’s place as a starter, averaging 8.2 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field.
Anunoby, meanwhile, participated in parts of shootaround Monday but will miss his fourth consecutive game after his right (shooting) elbow flared up again after he played in three games following a six-week layoff for a procedure to remove a loose body from it.
But when asked what sort of timeline there would be for the forward’s return, Thibodeau declined to give a specific answer, saying that the elbow has to “settle down.” The Knicks won 15 of their 17 games in which Anunoby played since being acquired from the Toronto Raptors at the start of 2024.
Most of the discussion, however, was reserved for Randle, the All-Star forward who has been out with a shoulder injury since taking an awkward fall against the Miami Heat on Jan. 27. Randle, who has regularly been working out hard before games, continues to be in the “controlled contact” portion of his rehabilitation process and has yet to advance to fully participating in live contact drills.
“He’s feeling better, so that’s a good sign,” Thibodeau said. “He’s ramped it up some. We’ll see where it goes.”
When asked if he could envision a scenario where Randle doesn’t return at all, Thibodeau said there’s a balance between doing the right thing for both the player and the team that has to be managed.
“It’s both ways,” he said. “It’s what helps the team and you don’t want to put a player in harm’s way either. So it’s like, ‘OK, let’s just take it day by day.’ You guys know I don’t do hypotheticals. So we’re hopeful.”
New York entered Monday’s action in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers in third, and a half-game ahead of the Orlando Magic in fifth.
The Knicks have managed to largely hold their ground since losing both Anunoby and Randle in that game against the Heat, as they ended that day sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference standings and currently find themselves fighting for the same spot.
“Well, I like the makeup of our team,” Thibodeau said, when asked how New York has managed to tread water despite the injuries. “It’s a testament to all our players. They always feel we have more than enough to win with. We dealt with the Mitch thing right away. That happened in December. And then it just went along. You got three starters out, and you just have to find a way to win — whatever you have to do, that’s what you have to do. That’s what I love about our team.”