Both Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson are not concerned about their status for Game 6 of the New York Knicks’ first-round playoff series against the Pistons on Thursday night in Detroit after suffering late knocks that forced them to the sideline.
Brunson’s ankle buckled on the wonky Madison Square Garden court, while Hart encountered a wrist issue that saw them both subbed off with 2:57 left in Game 5 on Tuesday and with the Knicks trailing 97-95.
“I’m all good,” Brunson curtly stated following the game.
“I just needed to regroup, walk it off, and try to go back in,” Hart added. “My whole body’s bothering me.”
The two were not down for too long. Moments later, they were standing at the scorer’s table, ready to check back in. Still, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau opted not to use his final timeout to get his top men back in the game — instead initially waiting for a break in the action to make his substitutions.
That stoppage never came, as Brunson and Hart were forced to watch from the sidelines as the Pistons opened up a six-point lead with 27.6 seconds remaining. This forced Thibodeau to finally call his last timeout, but it was futile, as the Knicks lost 106-103.
“Just where we were with our timeouts,” Thibodeau said. “Coach’s decision.”
The Knicks could not intentionally commit a foul, either. They already had five fouls in the fourth quarter, meaning any other personal foul would send the Pistons to the free-throw line.
“You’re looking at time, score, the penalty, timeouts, all of the above,” Thibodeau said. “What’s happening in the game? Do you feel like the next possession will put it away? There’s a lot that goes into it.”
With that gamble not paying off, the Knicks’ road to the second round becomes all the more difficult. While they still hold a 3-2 series lead, returning to Detroit is no easy task despite their winning both Games 3 and 4. A potential Game 7 is anybody’s game, though the Pistons would be the far more confident side, having overturned a 3-1 deficit.
