A weekend back-to-back set began about as well as it could for the New York Knicks.
Things might get even better on Sunday night with Jalen Brunson possibly returning from a month-long absence as the Knicks host the Phoenix Suns.
New York won despite the absence of Brunson and Mitchell Robinson on Saturday when it rolled to a 121-105 victory over the host Atlanta Hawks.
The Suns will be completing a three-game road trip after their losing streak hit five games Friday night with a 123-103 setback to the Boston Celtics.
Brunson, who suffered a sprained right ankle in a 113-109 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 6, worked out with the Knicks before Saturday’s game. New York is 9-6 without Brunson, who leads the team with 26.3 points and 7.4 assists per game.
“He’s very close — when he’s ready, we’ll know,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “If he can play, he’ll play. And if it’s better for him not to play, he won’t play.”
If Brunson returns Sunday, he’ll find the Knicks (49-28) in no worse shape than when he was injured — even though the All-Star point guard is far from the only player New York has been forced to play without down the stretch.
The Knicks lead the Indiana Pacers by three games in the race for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. New York held a 3 1/2-game lead over the fourth-place Milwaukee Bucks following the loss to the Lakers.
Brunson’s replacement in the starting lineup, Miles McBride, has missed the past eight games with a left groin injury. Robinson, who made his season debut Feb. 28 after undergoing left ankle surgery last May, has sat out five of the past 15 games due to maintenance.
“There’s some moving parts here where we’re trying to reintegrate players that come back after being out for a while,” Thibodeau said. “So there’s that challenge as well.”
The challenges this season have been of the unexpected variety for the Suns (35-42), who returned their big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and expected to challenge for the NBA title after hiring Mike Budenholzer to replace Frank Vogel.
But the Durant-Booker-Beal trio has started together just 23 times.
While Booker has played 71 of 77 games, Durant has been limited to 62 contests and is expected to miss his third straight game Sunday with a sprained left ankle. Beal has appeared in just 49 games and returned Friday after missing eight consecutive games with a strained left hamstring.
The Suns enter Sunday two games behind the Sacramento Kings in the race for 10th place in the Western Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. Phoenix has three home games before a visit to the Kings in the season finale April 13.
“We’ve got one more game on this trip,” Budenholzer said. “We’ve got to find a way to get a win — get some more wins, find a way to get into the play-in.”
