The Knicks received some minor good news heading into the new year. The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III reports (via Twitter) that backup guard/wing Landry Shamet has started doing some on-court work as he looks to recover from the right shoulder sprain that has sidelined him since November 22.
Shamet has yet to start contact training, but Edwards writes that, according to the 28-year old sharp-shooter, rehab has gone well. Shamet had the option of rehab or surgery and chose the former.
Newsday’s Steve Popper confirms the update (Twitter link) and adds that Shamet noted that dealing with a shoulder injury and rehab process last season helped prepare him for this one.
Shamet started this season playing some of the best basketball of his career. He averaged 9.3 points, which ties for his career-high, while shooting 42.4% from three in 20.9 minutes per night, the most he’s played since the 2020/21 season. He had become a valuable part of coach Mike Brown‘s rotation before the injury derailed his season.
We have more from the Knicks:
- Mitchell Robinson will miss two games in the next four days as he continues to deal with injury load management, but he has experienced no setbacks, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Bondy writes that, in addition to missing Wednesday’s game against the Spurs, the plan is for Robinson to play in one of the back-to-back games the Knicks will play on Friday and Saturday. Brown was quick to shut down any notion that Robinson re-injured the ankle that has given him issues in the past. “It’s all load management,” Brown said. “If you look at our schedule [it’s been hectic], I was complaining about it maybe a little too much. We’re just trying to be smart with it.” Ariel Hukporti, who saw increased minutes in the Knicks’ last game with Robinson out, is questionable for Wednesday, which could open up time for Trey Jemison III.
- Miles McBride was a rookie when Ray Allen came to Madison Square Garden to witness Stephen Curry break his all-time three-point record. During that game, Allen gave the young guard some advice that changed his entire shooting style, Bondy writes. “‘Get more elevation,”‘ Allen told him, according to McBride. “He said, ‘In the 15 minutes pregame, I work out hard. You can’t flip it on and off.’ Those type of things stick with me.” McBride added that he had always elevated on his mid-range shots, so doing the same thing from three made sense, and eliminated the fear of getting the shot blocked. After struggling with his shot during his first two seasons, McBride has shot 39.7% from three on over 700 attempts over the last three seasons.
- Brown believes that there’s “no question” that Karl-Anthony Towns is an All-Star this season, writes Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “KAT’s averaging a double-double. He’s over 20 points a game and over 10 rebounds a game,” Brown said. “And if you’re a top-three team in either conference and you’re the second-leading scorer — [and] the leading rebounder — you’re an All-Star. There’s no question about it. The only question is: Is he First, Second, or Third Team All-NBA, you know?” Towns has dealt with an uncharacteristically cold shooting spell this season, but has managed to impact the team in many ways while undergoing a dramatic role change in Brown’s offensive system.
- Brown’s lineup experimentations have proved incredibly effective, especially while the team deals with injuries, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. Young, unproven players like Tyler Kolek, Kevin McCullar Jr., and Mo Diawara have all had monster games that helped seal wins of late, and the players credit Browns’ open-mindedness for keeping them in the headspace to succeed. “Knowing that you’re flowing, playing, now it gives you even more energy, because now you’re like, you feel like you contribute, whatever, knowing you might get called,” Mikal Bridges said. “So, it’s just a different energy for the bench and especially when we make runs and stuff, if there’s 10 guys that play, nine guys that play, everybody is so juiced up. … If (you) played three minutes, if (you) played four minutes just as that low man to help blitz — you did something.” The Knicks’ bench was considered a weakness coming into the season, but with internal growth from Kolek and Brown’s constant tinkering, the team has found ways to win on the margins, thanks, in part, to that depth.