The Knicks were teased in March by brief returns to the lineup by OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, but April begins with uncertainty again over the team’s entire starting frontcourt.
Tom Thibodeau’s team already played all of February and then some without those two players and Julius Randle, but it was unable to post another key victory over a top opponent in a tough 113-112 loss Sunday night to the Thunder at the Garden.
One game after netting 61 points Friday in an overtime loss in San Antonio, Jalen Brunson scored 30 but missed a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer as the Knicks failed to retake the No. 3 playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks’ star was upset about a no-call on a layup he made to put the Knicks up a point on the possession before and coach Tom Thibodeau seemed to be of the same mindset.
“Write what you see,” Thinodeau said of the non-call afterward. “I don’t know what else to say, write what you see.”
Isaiah Hartenstein enjoyed another strong game in Robinson’s absence with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but the Knicks missed 11 of 34 free-throw attempts to slip to 44-30.
They have eight games remaining beginning with their first trip to Miami since last year’s playoffs Tuesday night against the Heat.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 19 points included the go-ahead bucket with 1.8 seconds remaining, Josh Giddey registered a triple-double and Jalen Williams scored a game-high 33 for the West-leading Thunder (52-22).
Brunson knocked down his first 3-point attempt in the opening minute, but that was his only make of the first quarter, finishing with three points on 1 of 5 shooting.
The Knicks pushed their 31-30 lead to five early in the second, with Brunson converting a three-point play with 3:02 remaining in the half.
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A 14-5 OKC spurt put the Knicks in a four-point hole late in the period, and Brunson came up hobbling after his left foot landed on Lu Dort’s foot on a 3-point attempt in the closing minute.
Brunson sank two of three from the line, and he finished the first half with 10 points, but the Thunder carried a 50-46 advantage into intermission.
Hartenstein also had 10 points through two quarters, but Donte DiVincenzo missed nine of 10 shots in the half and was 4-for-18 overall, including 12 misses in 16 tries from long distance after setting the franchise record for 3-pointers in a season Friday night against the Spurs.
Miles McBride and Brunson knocked down a trey apiece to start the third as the Knicks regained the lead, and Brunson added a reverse scoop for a 54-50 turnaround lead.
DiVincenzo also drained his first 3-point attempt of the half, and Brunson sank another deep try for a five-point cushion.
Hartenstein was too strong for rookie Chet Holmgren inside and registered two assists on cuts by Hart plus a three-point play later in the quarter to help boost the lead to 10.
Thibodeau won a coach’s challenge late in the period, reversing a blocking foul on McBride into an offensive foul on Holmgren as the Knicks took an 85-75 lead into the final quarter.
But the Thunder didn’t go quietly, netting the first seven points of the fourth before Kenrich Williams’ 3-pointer tied it at 88 barely two minutes into the quarter.
Williams was called for a flagrant foul for raking Hartenstein across the head. But Hartenstein split the free throws, and McBride missed on the ensuing possession.
Jalen Williams’ floater gave OKC a brief one-point lead, but Hartenstein’s two-handed dunk put the Knicks back ahead 93-92 with 8:24 to go.
Consecutive drives by Giddey put the Knicks in a four-point hole.
Giddey’s 3-pointer and a layup by Aaron Wiggins made it an eight-point game before Brunson’s drive, three free throws by McBride and another triple by Brunson erased the entire deficit for a tie game with under three minutes remaining.
Jalen Williams’ long 2-pointer gave OKC a 111-108 lead with 1:34 to go.
After DiVincenzo sank one of two from the stripe, Williams missed two and Brunson clanked his second of two free throws to close within one.
The ball went out of bounds off the Thunder, and Brunson banked in a drive in traffic — raising his arms afterward wanting a foul called — for a 112-111 lead with 4.1 seconds left.
But following a midcourt-inbounds pass, Gilgeous-Alexander sank a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline with 1.8 seconds remaining for a one-point OKC lead.
The Knicks got the ball into Brunson along the baseline, but his turnaround jumper clanked off the front of the rim as time expired.