Jalen Brunson will miss his second consecutive game when the New York Knicks try to stretch the league’s active longest winning streak to 10 Tuesday night at home against the slumping Charlotte Hornets.
New York coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters before the game that Brunson’s sore left foot, which also held him back last Sunday in Boston, is feeling better. But with a light opponent and a brutal West Coast trip upcoming, the Knicks are not throwing caution to the wind.
Brunson will sit out for only the sixth time this season. But he will travel with the Knicks on their four-game road trip that begins at Sacramento on Thursday.
Without Brunson, Immanuel Quickley flourished in Boston. Quickley scored a career-high 38 points, seven in the second overtime, to help the Knicks beat the Celtics for the third straight time. Quickley added eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals in a sensational performance on national TV that tilted the Sixth Man of the Year odds in his favor.
Brunson will have three more days to improve his left foot before their marquee matchup against the Western Conference’s third-seed Kings, who also held De’Aaron Fox out during Monday night’s win against the New Orleans Pelicans due to a hamstring injury.
Against the draft lottery-bound Hornets, losers of their last three games, Quickley will face Terry Rozier and former Knick Dennis Smith Jr. at the backcourt sans the injured LaMelo Ball.
The 23-year-old Quickley is averaging 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 11 games as a starter this season. Second-year guard Miles McBride will again have an opportunity to play with the second unit.
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