Brunson drops 39 in loss, Burks, Bogdanović make debuts

The Knicks dropped this one to Indiana at the Garden earlier today, and it wasn’t relatively pretty, as the Pacers won 125-111 in a game where they shot 61%, which was the highest percentage the Knicks have given up this season. For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson led the way with 39 points (14-25 FG), while Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanović dropped 22 and 11 points, respectively. This one was an uphill battle, as the Knicks failed to get stops when needed.

Surgery for Anunoby

OG Anunoby underwent minor surgery earlier this week to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow, and is expected to miss three weeks. This surgery hurts the Knicks for obvious reasons, but it happened at arguably the right time, as the Knicks made a trade for Burks and Bogdanovic. Not only that, but the all-star break is at the end of next week, which at the end of that will mark two weeks since Anunoby’s surgery. That limits the games he’ll miss.

Randle potential return target date

Julius Randle dislocated his shoulder during the January 27th game against the Miami Heat after taking a nasty fall, and was expected to be re-evaluated after three weeks. It’s been nearly two weeks since the injury, and he’ll also have the all-star break to recover. There hasn’t been a word on his recovery and how it’s really gone, but he also hasn’t wore any brace, and hasn’t undergone surgery. Taking a guess, he can return as soon as February 24th against the Celtics at Madison Square Garden.

Knicks banged up big men

Mitchell Robinson just recently passed the 8 week mark since his surgery, and it’s expected he’ll begin basketball activities after the all-star break. Big development as the Knicks really need healthy big men. Another banged up player is Isaiah Hartenstein, who left Thursday’s game with achilles soreness in his left foot. This has been an occurring injury for Hartenstein, as he’s missed time with this injury earlier in the season. Let’s see where that takes him and if he has to miss any extended time before the all-star break.