Jalen Brunson was back on the floor, but Julius Randle suddenly has been added to the Knicks’ mounting list of significant injury concerns as the playoffs approach.
Randle, the Knicks’ leading scorer and their only player to start every game this season, suffered a sprained left ankle late in the first half and did not return, but the Knicks still gutted out a pivotal and essentially clinched a postseason berth with a 101-92 victory over the Heat amid high but mixed emotions Wednesday night at the Garden.
Randle stayed down for several seconds and came up limping heavily after his left foot landed on Bam Adebayo’s foot following a shot attempt with 2:38 left in the second quarter.
He walked it off and temporarily remained in the game to sink one of two free throws, before hobbling badly to the locker room at the next whistle.
MSG Networks cameras showed the two-time All-Star doubled over in pain in the runway leading to the locker room after departing the floor.
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“To me it’s all part of it. Injuries they happen, and the thing that we have to understand is when you have a guy who’s averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds and five assists and doing the things that he’s doing, you’re not replacing him with an individual player,” Tom Thibodeau said afterward. “But what we can do is we can play great defense. We can rebound the ball great. We can take care of the ball. We know if we do those three things great, we can be in position to win.
“So we gotta make up for [Randle] collectively. That was the challenge when Jalen was out, and if Jules misses some time, then next guy get in there.”
Immanuel Quickley scored 24 points and Quentin Grimes nailed five 3-pointers and finished with 23 as the fifth-place Knicks (44-33) moved four full games clear of the No. 7 Heat and the play-in cutoff in the Eastern Conference — while sealing a 3-1 edge in the season-series tiebreaker.
With five games remaining beginning Friday night in Cleveland, the Knicks’ magic number to clinch their second playoff berth in three years is one.
“It means a lot,” Quickley said. “But pretty much for us, every game means a lot.”
With Randle out and Brunson playing hurt, Thibodeau notably went the entire fourth quarter with Quickley, Grimes, RJ Barrett, Josh Hart (13 points, eight rebounds) and Isaiah Hartenstein as his closeout group.
Brunson finished with 12 points in 30 minutes in his return to the lineup, wearing a protective brace around his sprained right hand and wrist area after missing the previous two games.
The $104 million point guard also had missed five games earlier this month with a sore left foot, with the Knicks going 5-6 over the 11 game-stretch in which he sat out seven times.
“I could do enough,” Brunson said, before adding of Randle, “I know Julius is a fighter, he’s a competitor. He’s going to do everything he can to make sure he’s ready to go. I’m not that concerned.”
Randle (season-low three points) didn’t score until 4:28 remained in the second quarter, but his drive to the hoop gave the Knicks a 37-35 lead.
Following Randle’s departure, Brunson netted the final five points of the quarter, including an uplifting corner-3 at the horn, for a 48-46 Knick advantage at intermission.
Quickley scored the Knicks’ final seven points of the third as the teams were tied, 76-76, headed into the final period.
Barrett’s turnaround floater nudged the Knicks ahead by two with 7:12 to go, and the Knicks clamped down at the defensive end from there.
Breakaway dunks by Hart and Grimes capped an 8-0 spurt and electrified the home crowd for a 94-85 lead with 5:02 remaining.
Brunson had been at the scorer’s table during that run, but he was called back to the bench by Thibodeau, who stuck with that closeout quintet the rest of the way.
“Yeah, they rolled away with the game. The way they were playing was incredible,” Brunson said. “They just found a way to keep fighting. Everything they were doing on both sides of the ball, they were clicking, so you’ve just got to go with that.”
