Banged-up Knicks a team desperately in need of All-Star break

Logic tells you that this is going to catch up to the Knicks eventually. So does simple arithmetic. And if they needed a hint as to how fragile and fleeting this can all be, all they needed to do Tuesday night was have a gander at the lineup the other team at Madison Square Garden rolled out onto the floor. 

Memphis won 51 games last year. Everyone knew the Grizzlies would struggle early this year with Ja Morant serving a disciplinary suspension, but it figured to get better once he returned. Except that return lasted all of nine games. And the other four members of the Grizz’ projected starting lineup were also absent Tuesday. 

At times, it was hard to watch as the Knicks barely broke a sweat in piling up a 28-point lead. And then, for a short but more telling time, it was really hard to watch as the Grizzlies went on an 18-1 run and shaved the Knicks lead to four. 

And by then, it had gotten downright difficult to watch at all. 

Because by then Jalen Brunson’s ankle had bent in a way that a human ankle is not supposed to be bent, by then Josh Hart’s knee had started to bark at him. And by then, there was no need for Memphis to serve as a helpful cautionary tale for worst-case scenarios; the Knicks were building their own quite nicely by themselves. 

The Knicks won the game, 123-113, but as has been the case across most of this user-friendly Garden-heavy stretch of the schedule, as the wins keep piling up so do the items littering the Knicks’ anxiety closet. They were already absent three-fifths of their starting lineup (Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby). They were already absent Quentin Grimes, and even Jericho Sims was scratched.