Karl-Anthony Towns has been listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Nets at the Garden after the center missed Friday's win with a left knee contusion.
Towns went through shootouts and warmups before the game against the Nets before it was determined he wasn't rested enough, according to Tom Thibodeau on Friday.
The injury occurred during a collision with Chicago's Zach LaVine late in the team's home loss to the Bulls on Wednesday.
The Knicks were hoping the day off Saturday would give Towns enough time to prepare for Sunday.
The same goes for Myles McBride, after McBride also missed that game with a left knee injury, Thibodeau said.
While Towns leads the Knicks in points (26.7) and rebounds (12.7), McBride has excelled as the team's sixth man, averaging 10.7 points and 26 minutes in his 11 games this season.
The valuable Achiuwa remains out with a hamstring strain and will sit out again on Sunday.
After Brooklyn's Cam Thomas scored 43 points for the Nets on Friday on 16-for-22 shooting, the Knicks praised the guard for his play.
On Sunday, they will have to face him again and will try to limit him to fewer than 19 points in the first quarter, which is what Thomas scored on Friday.
It was the second-most points scored by a player in a single quarter since the stats were tracked starting in 1996.
“He made some tough hits,” Thibodeau said. “It doesn't take much for him to get going. He's a prolific goalscorer. If you give him space, he'll shoot the ball, so you have to make him play in a crowd. Some of them have defended well and still have the ability to do that.” [them]”.
OG Anunoby said the Knicks could have done better.
“[He was] Just get out of the screens with great freedom and [we were] “I try to make it as difficult as possible to pass screens to compete,” Anunoby said. “He's a great player so he made some tough shots.”
Sunday's game will be the Knicks' first game back after he was called for 21 team fouls — including a controversial technical on Anunoby — on Friday.
Afterward, Thibodeau criticized management, saying, “We've been a team with few mistakes for a long time now. I see what's happening and I don't like it. This can't be the physicality that's being shown to Jalen.” [Brunson] When he lifts the ball to the ground by catching it, holding it, or all of those things. I don't care what they call it. They can call it tight, they can call it loose, but it has to be the same for both teams.
The Knicks enter Sunday looking to win back-to-back games for only the second time this season.
They beat the Heat and Pistons in back-to-back games on October 30 and November 1, but have since gone 3-4.
