Knicks' Immanuel Quickley misses game for first time this season with sore left knee
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley controls the ball against the Indiana Pacers in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
TORONTO — Immanuel Quickley was a late scratch Sunday with a sore left knee and missed a game for the first time this season.
Quickley not only had played every game this season but had been one of the NBA’s most heavily used players since Christmas. He ranked 17th in minutes per game (36.7) in that span (Jalen Brunson is first at 39.8 and Julius Randle is third at 39.3). Quickley averaged 17.8 points in that span.
Despite his slender frame, Quickley has been durable, playing 78 games last season and 64 games in the 72-game COVID-shortened season as a rookie.
“I don’t want to jinx it,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But he takes care of himself. Some of it is just that. He’s had very good durability and he pretty much works out year round, which helps.”
With Quickley out, Evan Fournier was the first guard off the bench. Fournier had not played in the previous six games.
Rested, not ready
Oddly, the Knicks were playing with a rest advantage for the first time this season. The Raptors played Boston on Saturday; the Knicks were off Saturday and in Toronto waiting for the game.
“Sometimes it’s just the way the schedule comes out,” Thibodeau said. “It’s been unusual. I think if you dig into it, particularly the home games, usually when you’re at home, you have the rest advantage or it’s equal. But that hasn’t been the case. Whatever the schedule is, the schedule is. You just have to deal with it.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
