Miles McBride has been reinserted into the Knicks‘ rotation over the past six games with Jalen Brunson sidelined due to a foot injury. The second-year guard has been making an impact on both ends of the court as of late, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post.
During Sunday’s road victory over the Lakers, McBride recorded eight points (on 3-of-5 shooting) and three steals in 17 minutes, finishing plus-15 in the four-point win.
“It’s huge. … But, honestly, if I didn’t score a point and we win, I’d still be happy. Just being able to impact the game however I can always is the number one thing,” McBride said. “I think the second unit knows that when we get in, our job is just look at the score, understand what we have to do as a unit and move the needle. And I think we came in and did that.”
The 22-year-old followed that strong performance with a career-high 18 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), three assists, two blocks and one steal in 25 minutes in Tuesday’s victory at Portland, Botte adds in another story. It remains to be seen if McBride will get minutes once Brunson returns, but he’s certainly building a strong case for himself.
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Veteran center Nerlens Noel averaged 14.3 minutes in his three games with the Brooklyn, but a source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the Nets will not bring him back for a second 10-day contract (Twitter link). Noel’s initial deal expires on Wednesday, Lewis notes. Head coach Jacque Vaughn previously suggested that he expected Noel to stick around.
- Payton Pritchard has switched agents and will now be represented by CAA Sports, the agency announced on Instagram. “At the end of the day, it’s a business decision,” Pritchard told Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “I think when you’re going into making choices on your future and your business, you want somebody that you believe is going to represent you in the best way and really help you. I’m not dissing my previous agent or anything like that. At the end of the day, it’s a nerve-wrecking time so you want to go with somebody that you really believe.” The third-year Celtics guard, who is currently sidelined with a heel injury, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. Pritchard previously expressed disappointment that he wasn’t traded ahead of last month’s deadline, as he’s looking for more playing time.
- Celtics big man Robert Williams could return to action “within the next week or so,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said prior to Wednesday’s matchup with Minnesota (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Boston). Williams has been dealing with a left hamstring strain, but has responded well to treatment and said he was “feeling good” over the weekend.
The Knicks don’t have mins for a good young PG. Am I reading this right. Waaaaaaaaaatt
How times change. …….
I actually liked McBride a bit more than Grimes at draft. Of course we didn’t have Jalen then.
McBride is why I move Quickley. Whoever backs Jalen is not getting more than 20 mins. So we can move Quickley, he has more value. Imo Jalen is going to push McBride. He’s going to have a front seat. Watching a guy his size get his. He’s gotta be inspired by that.
Keep at it player …….
First Walker, now Noel. I guess you end up in Detroit as veteran when you can’t play anymore.
Always good to see McBride play. Another guy (like IQ and Grimes) that Thibs pushed the FO hard to draft, and just fits like he was born to play here. Assist to OKC for the trade that set it up.
Brunson is obviously now our PG and leader, but I never worry guys like IQ and McBride being ready when he’s out. I thought at the end of last year that, if we stood pat, these two would make an excellent tag team at PG. To me, they’re both keepers, but that might not be feasible if Hart resigns with us.
Have to allow Payton Pritchard to play somewhere. He’s not 19 or 20. Stevens will trade him over the off season. Go Celts!