INDIANAPOLIS — With the Knicks now locked into the 4-5 first round playoff series against the Cavaliers, their final three games — beginning with Wednesday’s 138-129 road victory over the Pacers — already were largely pointless.
Both teams also were without their respective starting point guards, with the Knicks holding Jalen Brunson out of the game for “right hand maintenance.”
All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton already had been ruled out by the eliminated Pacers with ankle and elbow injuries.
“Just follow what medical says and go day by day. We thought if we got to this point that’s the way we would approach it,” Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson before the game. “So we’ll see where he is [Thursday] and just approach it that way.”
RJ Barrett also sat out his second consecutive game due to a non-COVID illness.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives against the Wizards on April 2, 2023. Noah K. Murray for the NY Post
Brunson had missed two games in late March with what the team said was a sprained right hand, and he’s played the past three games with a brace over his hand and wrist.
He scored a career-high 48 points with nine assists in a playoff preview victory last Friday in Cleveland and then netted 27 points with eight dimes in their postseason clincher Sunday night against the Wizards.
The $104 million point guard also had missed five of six games earlier in March with a bruised left foot, so it makes sense for the Knicks to rest him somewhat before the playoffs begin on either April 15 or April 16 in Cleveland.
“I love to play. I think being available is great. That’s just me,” Brunson had said Tuesday.
Leading scorer Julius Randle sat out those two games and already was expected to miss at least the rest of the regular season with a sprained left ankle before he’s scheduled to be reevaluated in the days ahead of the postseason opener.
Jalen Brunson won’t play in the Knicks’ game against the Pacers on Wednesday. Noah K. Murray for the NY PostMavericks owner Mark Cuban told reporters in Dallas on Wednesday that the organization “never had the opportunity” to re-sign Brunson to a four-year, $56 million extension ahead of last season’s trade deadline, as had been previously reported.
Cuban also seemed to blame the Knicks’ hiring of Brunson’s father, former NBA player Rick Brunson, as an assistant coach for the point guard’s Dallas departure, saying “things went south when the parents got involved.”
Chris Duarte (ankle) and Myles Turner (ankle) also were sidelined for the Pacers.
