INDIANAPOLIS – Donte DiVincenzo responded to the suggestion that the injured Knicks would pitch Game 3 to recover.
“Hell no, you can stop there,” the Knicks starting shooting guard said. “We don’t produce anything. We come here to win the match.
The Knicks were already missing three rotation players when OG Anunoby was ruled out of Friday’s Game 3 against the Pacers with a hamstring strain.
Point guard Jalen Brunson was also listed as questionable Friday due to a sore foot after being injured in Game 2 and sitting out the majority of the first half.
Brunson said he was doing well and hoped to play, but online and on-air chatter sparked debate about the idea.
Resting now to win later is certainly not unprecedented. In 2001, Allen Iverson was banged up and sat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bucks to recover (that series was tied at the time, 1-1). He returned to lead the Sixers to the NBA Finals by winning that series in seven games.
However, these Knicks don’t seem ready to punt.
They had the opportunity to manipulate their rankings before the playoffs, avoiding a potential matchup against the Heat or 76ers.
But they won with five straight victories to end the regular season and secure the second seed and the franchise’s first 50-win campaign since 2013.
Since the playoffs began in late April, the Knicks have lost three rotation players to injuries: Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic. They were already missing Julius Randle.
Only Anunoby has a chance to return to the postseason, although hamstring strains are tricky and the Knicks have not provided a recovery timetable. ESPN reported that Anunoby was “unlikely” to play Game 4 on Sunday.
DiVincenzo said individual staff members did not impact preparation.
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“No, not at all,” he replied. “Like I said, throughout the season, you asked our starting field to go out for almost the entire season and then make trades. You do this, you do that, guys come in and out, it doesn’t matter. We want to achieve the same fundamentals and we believe that no matter who is on the court, as long as you defend and rebound, we have a chance to win any game.
Before Friday, Brunson had played 28 consecutive games. He was on a minutes restriction in March after suffering a knee contusion and missing a game. He missed two games in January with a calf contusion, one game in February with an ankle injury and another game in February with neck spasms.
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