The Knicks are one step closer to reaching fully healthy status.
After undergoing a minor procedure on his right elbow, starting forward OG Anunoby has been cleared to resume on-court activities, head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Thursday.
“He can shoot, dribble, pass,” Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Golden State Warriors. “No contact yet. But [he’s on to] the next step and we’ll start that tomorrow.
Anunoby last played in the Knicks’ Jan. 27 victory over the Miami Heat. He was initially listed as out the following game due to elbow inflammation, but over the course of several days, his injury was upgraded to right elbow bone spur irritation.
The Knicks later announced he underwent a minor procedure to remove a loose bone fragment from his elbow.
Thibodeau declined to get into specifics about reports suggesting Anunoby has a middle of March target date to return to the floor.
“It’s premature,” he said. “He just cleared this next step. So all basketball activity aside from the contact will be the next thing. And then once that happens, he’ll be back.”
Thibodeau said Anunoby did some work Thursday morning. Josh Hart, who has replaced the injured Anunoby in the starting lineup, was not a spectator for Anunoby’s session.
Hart, however, is averaging just under 40 minutes per game since he was thrust into the starting forward spot.
“He’s taking his sweet-ass time, I’ll tell you that,” Hart joked on Thursday. “I’m playing 40 [minutes]. That’s the difference, so hopefully he’ll hurry his ass up.”
Anunoby, of course, is integral to the Knicks’ odds at a deeper playoff run than last season’s second-round appearance.
The Knicks traded Immanuel Quickley, R.J. Barrett and a second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors in the deal that landed Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa in New York. They immediately won 12 of the first 14 games they played after the deal before both Anunoby and Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) left the rotation in the victory over the Heat.
The 12-2 record after the trade ranked first in the NBA, and the Knicks also led the league in defensive rating, allowing just 104.1 points per 100 possessions after inserting Anunoby into the starting lineup.
The Knicks own the fifth-worst defensive rating since Anunoby’s injury. Isaiah Hartenstein has also missed five games with left Achilles soreness, with a depleted Knicks team attempting to hold the fort down until the key starters return to the rotation.
“It’s a combination,” Thibodeau said of the team’s defensive woes without Anunoby. “Obviously it’s [OG], but also coinciding with that is Isaiah going out. So some of our rim protection is gone. But we still have to find a way to get it done. Other guys, get in there and get it done.”
The Knicks miss Anunoby’s spacing offensively, too.
He scored 15 or more points in seven of the 10 games leading into his injury, including 23 points in a win over Portland and 26 points in the victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
“He’s someone who can make the game easy. Offensively he lets the game come to him, gets stuff in rhythm, in the flow of the offense,” said Hart. “Defensively, obviously he’s — you know — a huge piece in terms of guarding the other team’s best players, point of attack, those kinds of things.
“So not having that makes things harder defensively and offensively, but whenever he stops f–king around and on vacation, it’ll be better.”
While Thibodeau is upbeat about the progress his starting forward has made, there is no definitive timetable yet for Anunoby’s return.
“I think all that stuff [reports on his injury timeline] is speculation. It’s when he’s ready to play,” he said. “The good thing was him getting cleared today. Now you go into the next phase. He’ll be checked by our medical people daily and then we go from there. This next step is the important one. Once the contact is added, then that’s when he’ll be ready to go.
STILL NOTHING ON MITCH
Mitchell Robinson has not yet progressed to running or jumping after his December surgery on his left ankle.
Robinson is out of the walking boot and has been cleared for on-court activities, but he isn’t yet sprinting or leaping, the two activities defining his production at the center spot.
“The normal stuff. He’s following the protocol,” Thibodeau said. “He’s making really good progress. He’s no longer in a boot. He’s shooting, doing all that type of stuff. He hasn’t been cleared for contact yet.”
