CLEVELAND – Julius Randle’s ankle injury is “terrible timing,” Jalen Brunson noted, but the Knicks have no choice but to figure out how to make up for the absence of their leading scorer for at least the remainder of the regular season and possibly to start the playoffs.
Starting small forward RJ Barrett believes the Knicks are better equipped this season – with the additions of Brunson and Josh Hart and the two-way improvements made by Immanuel Quickley – to withstand the loss of their lone All-Star beginning with Friday’s game against Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers, their likely first-round postseason opponent.
“One hundred percent,” Barrett said after Friday’s morning shoot-around at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. “I think it could be anybody’s night. The way I come in looking at it, I want to make the right plays, whether I’m scoring, facilitating, playing defense.
“Whenever one guy goes down, we always step up to focus. I think it takes more focus, especially being down an All-Star. But I’m very confident in our team and how we can handle things.”
Brunson missed seven of the Knicks’ previous 11 games with foot and hand injuries before returning for Wednesday’s all-important win over the seventh-place Heat.
He also responded “100 percent” when asked for his confidence level in the Knicks being able to win without Randle, who leads the team with 25.1 points and 10.0 rebounds in starting each of the team’s first 77 games.
“Definitely… We have more than enough guys that are capable of helping out. That’s what a team is for and that’s what we do,” Brunson said. “We’re professionals. We gotta stay professional and just do our job.
“We feel for our guy. He’s been in pretty much every game all year. It’s terrible timing, but life always throws us curveballs. It’s all about how you respond. We’re just gonna have to, as a group collectively, pick up where he left off. For now, try to get one without him.”
Backup power forward Obi Toppin could make his first start of the season Friday night, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that his usual playing time – an average of 14.4 minutes over 62 appearances off the bench – will increase significantly.
With Randle departing Wednesday’s win before halftime and Brunson operating at less than 100 percent with a brace around his sprained right hand – Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went with a smaller lineup for the entire fourth quarter against the Heat featuring Barrett, Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Josh Hart and second-team center Isaiah Hartenstein.
Both Barrett and Hart have some experience manning the power forward spot.
“The thing for us is that everyone has to be themselves,” Brunson said. “Don’t try and be someone you’re not. It’s just like I said, it’s a collective effort. Julius plays a unique style of basketball. You have guys who play differently, but are still very effective. So we just gotta be ourselves and not really be Julius. Julius brings a whole different dynamic to our team. We just gotta be ourselves and just help each other out.”
Brunson added that he has texted with Randle in recent days and his teammate’s “spirits are high,” despite being sidelined for the first time this season.
The Knicks have said that Randle’s sprained ankle will be reevaluated in two weeks, and the first round of the playoffs is slated to begin on April 15 or 16.
“Like I’ve said before, he’s a fighter and he’s gonna try to get back as healthy as he can, as fast as he can,” Brunson said of Randle. “He’s a warrior. You know how he is with his expressions. He’s very straight-faced and monotone, but he’s a great teammate, great guy to be around. So he’ll be back.
“We have to keep our spirits up and make sure that he’s focusing on getting back healthy as fast as he can. I think for us, just go out there and just try and win ballgames. It’s a next-man-up mentality. For us, it’s a group effort. Nothing really changes, besides the fact that he’s not playing tonight.”