The biggest obstacle that the New York Knicks have had to overcome this season has been injuries. Since early December, they have consistently been dealing with at least one prominent member of their rotation being sidelined.
Mitchell Robinson was the first player to go down after needing surgery on his ankle. After that, it was Julius Randle with a separated shoulder and OG Anunoby with his elbow. While Randle’s season was over after undergoing surgery, New York was healthy otherwise heading into the postseason.
Now four games into their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, injuries are the topic of discussion again. In Game 3, some dirty plays by Joel Embiid contributed to Robinson injuring his ankle again. He missed the second half of that game and was sidelined for Game 4.
In Game 4, he was joined on the sideline by Bojan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic hurt his lower leg when Nicolas Batum made an unnecessary and reckless dive for a ball Bogdanovic already had possession of.
Bogdanovic had already been ruled out for Game 5 with what was called a foot contusion. Evidently, the injury was much worse than that, as it is now being reported that Bogdanovic will miss the remainder of the 2024 NBA Playoffs and undergo surgery on his ankle.
According to Basketball Sphere, Bogdanovic is set to undergo surgery tomorrow. He could also have a procedure on his left hand, which was injured coming into the postseason and causing quite a bit of pain.
This is a tough blow for the Knicks as Bogdanovic was finally looking comfortable coming off the bench and providing a scoring punch. His loss will be felt for the remainder of the series and for as long as they remain in the postseason as there isn’t much depth on the wing to turn to.
If head coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t further shrink his rotation, Alec Burks could be who he turns to. Burks was acquired along with Bogdnaovic from the Detroit Pistons ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline but lost his spot in the rotation with the emergence of Miles McBride and Anunoby getting healthy.
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