Knicks want Kemba Walker to take his time getting healthy
Kemba Walker of the Knicks looks on from the bench in the second half against the Spurs at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When will Kemba Walker be back on the floor for the Knicks?
The answer remains murky. Coach Tom Thibodeau continued to say his guard is getting close to being able to play but didn’t indicate when that will be.
Walker missed his ninth straight game Monday with a sore knee after playing some major minutes when the Knicks’ roster was depleted because of injuries and COVID-19. Aside from Monday’s game, the starting unit has looked pretty good without Walker, so Thibodeau can be extra-cautious when it comes to bringing him back.
"The big thing regarding Kemba is I want him to feel as good as possible, and a player like him in the situation he is in, I want him to trust where he is with his body,’’ Thibodeau said. "When he’s ready, he’s ready. He’ll let us know. We trust him.
"What I don’t want [is] to get into a situation where it’s on-off, on-off. I want to get to the point where he feels confident and he’s in a good spot and place and he can go."
Mayor Adams gets crowd going
New York Mayor Eric Adams got a bit of a mixed reception when he was introduced to Knicks fans before the game.
"When the civil rights battle was on the line, Dr. King wanted the ball in his hand and he gave his life to ensure that our country would be a better place," Adams told the crowd in his first MSG appearance. "Let’s win this for Team New York and Team America."
And with that, the crowd erupted in applause.
Bridges keeps aggressive attitude
Miles Bridges, who scored a career-high 38 points for the Hornets, on his attitude coming into the Garden: "Just staying aggressive. My teammates did a great job at finding me early on. Once I saw one or two of them go in, I just kept going. Coach kept trusting me to run the offense through this game and it worked out."
Robinson flashes his handle
In one of the Knicks’ few highlights, Mitchell Robinson broke out a move that fans might not have believed possible. Starting from well outside the three-point line, the 7-footer used a crossover dribble to get past Mason Plumlee, and when Cody Martin belatedly moved to help, Robinson used a Eurostep to get past him before capping his long drive with a dunk.
Robinson has hit 83.7% of his shots from the field (72-for-86) in the past 15 games, but most of those were dunks. This one was, too, but it also was something special.
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.
