The next Knick to miss a game due to injury could be Immanuel Quickley.
Just as guards Cam Reddish and Derrick Rose returned to the rotation after multi-game absences in Sunday’s loss to the Grizzlies, Quickley has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s road game against the Pistons.
Quickley has appeared in each of the Knicks’ 20 games this season — all off the bench — but he left Sunday’s loss in the third quarter with a sore right knee.
The third-year combo guard ranks fifth on the team in scoring (9.4 points per game), third in assists (3.2) and sixth in rebounds (4.5) while averaging 22.7 minutes per appearance.
If Quickley is unavailable, Tom Thibodeau could cut down his rotation from 10 to nine players due to the returns of Rose and Reddish in the backcourt, or he can stick with 10 and use second-year point guard Miles McBride on the second unit.
Thibodeau essentially went with 10 players on Sunday night, with McBride on the court for less than one minute, and Jericho Sims not getting off the bench after logging at least eight minutes in each of the previous 10 games.
“I felt like that’s what we should do and I like the way it worked. So we’ll continue to do that,” Thbodeau said after the game. “Like I said, we have Jericho and we have Deuce that are deserving, as well. Evan [Fournier], as well. But you can’t play everyone, so you have to settle on a rotation.”
Jalen Brunson’s third consecutive 30-point game Sunday marked his seventh with at least 25 this season, tying him with Bernard King and Stephon Marbury for the fifth-most 25-plus scoring games in a player’s first 20 games with the Knicks. … Julius Randle posted his 57th game as a Knick with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, trailing only Walt Frazier (84) for the most in franchise history. … Mitchell Robinson’s 17th career game with at least five blocked shots leaves him one behind Marcus Camby (18) for second-most in franchise history, behind distant leader Patrick Ewing (171).
Cade Cunningham (shin) is out for the Pistons (5-17).