Knicks' Kemba Walker sits out against Cavaliers, perhaps to rest up for 76ers game
Kemba Walker of the Knicks hits a three point shot during the second quarter against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 26. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks decided Kemba Walker needs to rest. Apparently, they haven’t decided for how long.
The team’s starting point guard did not play Sunday against the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Instead, backup Derrick Rose started in his place and Immanuel Quickley was expected to get more minutes in the second unit.
Before Sunday, Walker, who has an arthritic knee, had appeared in every game in this early season.
Though the general thinking is that the Knicks are trying to manage his minutes in a first game of a back-to-back, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau declined to confirm that the plan was to play him Monday night against the 76ers in Philadelphia.
"We’ll see," Thibodeau said. "We will sit down with the training staff and Kemba. If he’s comfortable, then he goes. If not, we’ll give him another day. It’s how he feels. That’s the big thing."
Walker did not play in back-to-back games last season when he was with the Celtics. This week marks the first time the Knicks have played games on consecutive nights.
It did make some sense that the Knicks would want to rest him against the Cavaliers. Walker is coming off two games where he scored in single digits. Before that, Walker had scored in double digits in 40 straight regular season games, dating back to Feb. 9 last season.
Walker, 31, also might have struggled defensively against the Cavaliers young backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.
"There’s a lot of parts to this," Thibodeau said. "There’s obviously what the medical people recommend. [The] player has a lot of say too because the player has to trust his body. That’s an important part of this equation which we don’t take lightly. That factors into it. Performance factors into it. Everything factors into it. We always have to do what’s best for our team but the players' health and wellness is priority."
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
