Knicks Injuries: Will Jalen Brunson Return Monday vs. Rockets?
Is Jalen Brunson coming back for the final stages of the New York Knicks' March Madness? There appears to be a good chance.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that Brunson, the Knicks' primary point guard, fully practiced on Sunday as the team prepares for a Monday showdown against the Houston Rockets (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). Brunson was a late scratch from Thursday's loss in Orlando due to a hand injury sustained the night before in another Floridian defeat in Miami. He has officially been labeled questionable on the New York injury report for the Rockets' visit.
While New York (42-33) has been able to somewhat get by without Brunson (5-5 in 10 games he has missed), there's no doubt that the Knicks would get to get him into a bit of a rhythm with the postseason presumably waiting. The Knicks' resurgence has been primarily sparked by Brunson's arrival as the 26-year-old Dallas Mavericks alum has fulfilled every metropolitan expectation and then some to the tune of career-best 23.8-point and 6.2-assist averages.
Brunson's absence from the trip to Orlando was part of a brutal week for the Knicks, who have dropped three in a row and six of their past nine. Entering this week, New York still ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference but chances of stealing the fourth seed from Cleveland (47-28) are remote and they're only two games up on the seventh-place Miami Heat (40-35) to avoid the four-team conference Play-In Tournament. Following the woebegone Rockets' visit, Madison Square Garden will host the Heat on Wednesday, exactly one week after the Knicks fell in a 127-120 decision in South Beach.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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