Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson continues to deal with the sore right ankle that caused him to be listed as questionable ahead of New York’s second game against the Heat.
Brunson ultimately played and performed well in the 111-105 Knicks win. He scored 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe. His status for Game 3 in Miami, however, remains murky.
Per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Tom Thibodeau claimed Brunson “didn’t do much” in the team’s practice Thursday, and is considered “day-to-day.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Given the uncertain availability of Heat All-NBA swingman Jimmy Butler, the Knicks are gearing up to play against two iterations of Miami on Saturday, per Peter Botte of The New York Post: one with Butler and one without him. “The good thing about the situation that we just went through is we played one game where he played and one game where he didn’t play,” Thibodeau said. “So we know style of play, what he brings, how they’ll be different when he plays. We also know how they’ll play when he doesn’t play.”
- The Celtics worked hard to earn a 121-87 blowout victory over the Sixers to even their series to a 1-1 record, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Boston point guard Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, made it a priority to lock down Philadelphia’s backcourt. “Our defense has been slipping,” Smart said, “and we just wanted to come out and get back to what we do best.”
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said today that MVP center Joel Embiid‘s knee is responding well following his return to the floor for a Game 2 loss to Boston, per Rich Hoffman of The Athletic (Twitter video link). “Just his speed that he reached, his explosions, they were very close to normal,” Rivers said. “That was great for us to see and more importantly, great for him to be able to do it and see that he can do it, and have very little swelling or anything like that.” Embiid scored 15 points, blocked five shots and pulled down three boards in 27 minutes of action, playing in his first game back from an LCL sprain.