Will Jalen Brunson solve all the recent issues for the New York Knicks?
As teams across the league continue to prepare for the start of the NBA Postseason, the New York Knicks are one that is just trying to keep everything together. Over the last couple of months, there has not been much that has gone right for the Knicks. One of their biggest issues has been injuries. Right now, the Knicks have mightily struggled with Jalen Brunson out due to an ankle injury.
Brunson is still expected to miss a little more time but there have been some encouraging updates on his path toward returning to the floor for the Knicks. He's out of a walking boot and is expected to make a return before the start of the postseason. With how much the Knicks have been struggling of late, they could use every ounce of good news they could get.
The New York Knicks don't have much time to right the ship
With the NBA Playoffs right around the corner, the Knicks don't have much time to right the ship. To be honest, the Knicks' struggles started well before the injury to Brunson. Will his return help the Knicks get back on the right track? Absolutely. However, at the same time, it may be a bit foolish to expect Brunson to come back and for everything to be resolved.
The Knicks have lost six of their last nine games recently. Since January 3, the Knicks have been just a slightly above-average team. Over that span, New York is just 19-16. They haven't lost much ground in the Eastern Conference standings and are still expected to enter the playoffs as the third seed, but the recent fall from excellence is not great.
Entering the season, there was an expectation that the Knicks would emerge as a team that could potentially push the Boston Celtics in a playoff series. Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers have also injected themselves into the championship picture, I assume you can throw themselves into a team that New York could push as well.
However, with the way the team has played over the last couple of months of the season, all of that is now up in the air. The first step is certainly getting Brunson back into the swing of things. And maybe that will help the Knicks hit another gear as the playoffs quickly approaches. At this point, though, that's far from a guarantee.