Mason Plumlee had to be carried off the court after Julius Randle collided with the veteran’s knee diving for a ball.
The incident occurred with 4:10 left in the third quarter of the Knicks’ 111-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Randle made the split-second dive to try and keep the loose ball from going into the hands of the Clippers.
However, instead, he ran right into the left knee of LA’s big man, sending Plumlee tumbling to the ground.
Plumlee was instantaneously in pain and could not put any weight on the knee when he did get back up.
Two members of the Clippers’ training staff had to lift and carry Plumlee to the locker room.
Randle appeared to go up to Plumlee as he passed the Knick bench and tapped him on the chest.
The Clippers later announced that he would not return due to a left knee sprain.
Plumlee, 33, had two points in 10 minutes for the Clippers off the bench.
The Clippers were looking to avoid their second consecutive loss in the young NBA season after falling to the rival Los Angeles Lakers in their previous game.
Monday’s showdown between the Clippers and Knicks took on extra significance as James Harden made his debut with LA after being traded by the Philadelphia 76ers last week.
The Clippers were expected to put a minutes restriction on Harden as he finally took the court after sitting out training camp, preseason and the start of the regular season.
However, New York had gone into the game prepared to see the Clippers’ new star.
“[Harden is] another weapon for them,” Jalen Brunson said. “They have a lot of great players over there. Really impressive résumés and all that stuff, and their careers have been nothing short of spectacular. So, it’s a lot of firepower. We’ve just gotta be ready to go.”