Knicks limp into All-Star break hoping to get healthy soon

The game was over and the usual frustration and bitterness after a loss was mostly gone, too, as Knicks players and coaches packed for various destinations — Jalen Brunson bound for Indiana and his first All-Star Game, others getting in a quick run of beach time.

Tom Thibodeau, as you might expect, was cherishing a long break to retreat to his office at the Knicks’ training facility, study film and find a way to get back on track when the team returns next week.

Mostly, the Knicks (33-22) need the time to heal up. They were missing six of their top eight rotation players as they ended the pre-All-Star break segment of the schedule with a season-high fourth consecutive loss, falling to the Magic, 118-100, on Wednesday night in Orlando.

“Just take a look at where we are,” Thibodeau said. “We’ve got guys coming back and just prepare for the start. What are the things that we need to shore up? What are the things we can get better at? And then lock into our opponents. So there’s a lot of work to be done. But I think it’s a good opportunity to take a break and recharge, too.”

“Today was a rough one,” Josh Hart said. “I think it was just bodies are tired. Now going to recoup and hopefully we get two or three guys back after break and kind of get back in the rhythm that we had.

“Losing four in a row is tough, but all games that we felt we were in at some point. To do that with six guys out is good. So we’re not going to put too much weight on these losses. You put any team out there in the league and say, ‘All right, take away four starters or six rotation guys,’ they’re going to struggle.”

And the Knicks did, an uncharacteristic ending to what had been a revelation in recent months as they added new pieces and solidified a roster that suddenly has put dreams of a deep playoff run in play. A 15-2 run moved them to 32-17 and on the brink of moving into second place in the Eastern Conference before the injuries began to pile up.

But what they need most of all right now is to heal. They are confident that the three players who were late scratches Wednesday — Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo and Bojan Bogdanovic — will be ready to play when the team reconvenes after the break. And there is hope that Julius Randle and OG Anunoby will return not long after.

For Thibodeau, that means spending hours watching film, studying how best to utilize all of the roster pieces when he has them at his disposal.

“I think that’s the challenge of our league,” he said. “How quickly can you adapt? And whether it’s an injury, foul trouble, a trade, free agency, it doesn’t stay the same. We have to keep an open mind and adapt very quickly. How quickly can we get everyone onto the same page? That’s the challenge that you constantly have.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.