One game without Karl-Anthony Towns was enough to magnify any concerns the New York Knicks might have about their depth.
The Knicks will hope to have their star center back when they try to snap a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night against the visiting Toronto Raptors in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals.
Both teams were off Tuesday after absorbing defeats at home Monday night, when the Knicks fell to the Orlando Magic 103-94 and the Raptors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 128-104.
New York dropped to 1-2 this season without Towns after Monday’s loss. The 7-footer, who has a double-double in 30 of the 34 games in which he’s played, was scratched with right knee tendinopathy – the same ailment that caused him to sit out a 120-111 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 7. Towns was sidelined sidelined with a bruised left knee Nov. 15, when the Knicks edged the Brooklyn Nets 124-122.
The four-time All-Star is listed as questionable for Wednesday.
“Whoever is in there, it’s a next-man-up mentality,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said. “He obviously brings a lot to the game, but it’s unfair to the rest of the guys on the team, who put in all the work, to say without him we weren’t able to do a lot.”
Jericho Sims made his third start in place of Towns on Monday but finished with just four points in 29-plus minutes. He failed to score against the Pistons and collected four points against the Nets.
Towns is the only starter to miss multiple games this season for the Knicks, who beat the Minnesota Timberwolves without Josh Hart on Dec. 19 and defeated the Utah Jazz with Brunson sidelined on Jan. 1.
Brunson, Hart, Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges are collectively averaging 99.8 points per game for the Knicks, whose bench averages 17.4 points per contest. Miles McBride (14 times), Cameron Payne (eight times) and Precious Achiuwa (three times) are the only reserves to reach double figures in a game this season for New York.
“We just need to come ready to play with energy, regardless of what happens,” Brunson said.
Getting their optimal starting lineup back hasn’t solved the season-long problems for the Raptors, who entered Tuesday with the fourth-worst record in the NBA (8-28) after losing for the 13th time in 14 games Monday night.
The Raptors beat the Nets 130-113 to snap an 11-game losing streak Jan. 1, when Immanuel Quickley scored 21 points in his return from an elbow injury that cost him almost two months.
But Toronto led for just 41 seconds in a 106-97 loss to the Magic last Friday and fell behind by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter Monday, when RJ Barrett had 25 points after missing three games due to illness.
The Raptors have lost seven games by at least 20 points this season — including four since Dec. 26.
“You can do Xs and Os, but if you don’t play hard, you don’t play with that level of compete that you need to bring to the game, it’s going to be tough to win,” Barrett said.
