Cities fell to the court in pain whereas grabbing his left knee after a collision with Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith with 2:11 left to play in Recreation 4 He was in a position to keep within the sport, however Peter Botte of The New York Post notes that he gave the impression to be favoring the identical knee earlier within the evening.
“I’m solely excited about this loss, I’m not excited about that proper now,” Cities advised reporters when requested about his probabilities to play on Thursday. “It’s disappointing while you don’t get a win. Simply didn’t do sufficient to get the job carried out tonight.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was optimistic about Cities’ situation, saying “it’s a great signal” that he was in a position to proceed taking part in. Thibodeau added that “we’ll see the place he’s after he will get evaluated” by the workforce’s medical employees.
Cities was the hero of Recreation 3 with a 20-point fourth quarter that sparked New York to its solely victory up to now within the collection. He posted 24 factors and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes in Recreation 4, however solely tried two three-pointers. He was pulled from the sport 4 minutes into the primary quarter after choosing up two early fouls.
If Cities is unavailable on Thursday, Josh Hart will presumably return to the beginning lineup. He began all 77 video games he performed through the common season, however Thibodeau moved him to the bench in Video games 3 and 4 whereas utilizing a double-big method with Mitchell Robinson alongside Cities.