Knicks Postseason Ruined By Injuries!

By on

        The New York Knicks just had their best regular season in shortly over a decade. A 50-32 record, the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They had a great roster especially at the trade deadline after acquiring Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks including their biggest acquisition in OG Anunoby. The Knicks were in the top ten in defensive and offensive rating which usually indicates the team has more than enough to win a championship. 


        In a regular season matchup against the Miami Heat, Knicks All-NBA forward Julius Randle suffered a shoulder injury after a collision with rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr. After months of rehabilitation to return before the playoffs, Randle underwent season-ending surgery. The Knicks would go into the playoffs without one of their All-Stars. However, they're a deep team so despite Randle's loss they had enough pieces to make up for his absence. 


        The Knicks would face the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs where they're also dealing with some injuries. Sixers center Joel Embiid suffered a knee injury for which he had surgery and during the series revealed he was diagnosed with Bell's palsy which is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. It was a furious battle between the Northeast division rivals with the Knicks finishing on top after six games. However, in game four Bojan Bogdanovic suffered an ankle injury and underwent season-ending surgery. 


        The Knicks went up against the young Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. The series went down to game seven but would lose several key players. Mitchell Robinson suffered another ankle injury after game one then had surgery and OG Anunoby would be sidelined after game two with a hamstring injury. The Knicks were falling apart and sadly suffered defeat in game seven to the Indiana Pacers thus ending their season. 


        This team as a whole looked the best to take down the Boston Celtics. They had shooters, and players who hustle and play great defense but injuries robbed the fans of that. Now the Indiana Pacers will face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks had a great season, a sad ending to their playoff hopes, and will have a busy offseason ahead. 

Location: Miami, FL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are the Sacramento Kings Contenders?

By on
Image
Last season the Sacramento Kings were the most surprising team in the entire league. Before last season began the Kings have been known to be one of the worst franchises in the NBA, having missed the playoffs for 16 straight seasons. Last summer the Kings made moves that would later show a huge turning point for the franchise.  Starting with the head coach. Last season the Kings fired Head Coach Luke Walton after 2 seasons (the Kings had a record of 92-134 with Walton as their Head Coach). They then hired Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown. The Kings did not stop there as they had to make some improvements to the roster. First, the NBA Draft, with the number 4 overall pick the Kings took Forward Keegan Murray from Iowa State. Later, in free agency, they signed Guard Malik Monk to a 2-year, $19.4 Million dollar deal. Next, the Kings traded for Guard/3-pt specialist Kevin Huerter. It is amazing how the Kings were able to gain such a high-quality player while not having to g
Read more

From Division 2 to the NBA

By on
Image
          The Miami Heat have found great success when it comes to developing undrafted players and this season they had themselves another successful project with Forward Haywood Highsmith. After graduating high school in 2014 Highsmith took his basketball talents to Wheeling University, a Division 2 program. Highsmith would go on to play 4 seasons at Wheeling University and would enter the 2018 NBA draft. Haywood Highsmith would go undrafted but that did not stop him from pursuing the big leagues.            Highsmith would have a couple opportunities at making the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers however the Sixers didn't seem to have a reason to keep him so he got waived a few times. However he did not give up on his NBA dream and would continue to work on his game in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats [Philadelphia 76ers G-League affiliated team]. Haywood Highsmith also spent a season overseas in Germany. During the 2021-22 NBA season a lot of teams found themselves shor
Read more

Celtics Guard Inks New Deal

By on
Image
          Payton Pritchard has been quite the story for the Boston Celtics so far in his young NBA career. He was the 26th overall pick  back in the 2020 NBA draft. In his first three years in the league Pritchard has shown some offensive flashes especially with his shooting ability. However this past season Pritchard was in and out of the rotation, playing in just 48 games, which resulted in him requesting a trade however Boston did not necessarily entertain the idea. Pritchard clearly wants a consistent role in the Celtics' rotation and he may get that opportunity given all the moves the Celtics made this offseason and just recently was announced he has a signed a 4-year, $30 million contract extension with the Boston Celtics.           Pritchard did not see much playing time this past season given the elite guards ahead of him such as Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon. Averaging just 13 minutes a game in the 48 games he appeared in during the regular season. Howeve
Read more