The New York Knicks entered Wednesday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers trying to get their season back on track, and that is exactly what they did.
New York had lost their previous two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics heading into Wednesday’s matchup. With the 76ers being beat up and also on an eight-game losing streak, the Knicks saw the perfect opportunity to get back into the win column.
That is exactly what they did as they defeated Philadelphia 110-105. Of course, this game was much closer than the Knicks wanted it to be but they were ultimately able to hold off the 76ers after their fourth quarter run, handing them their ninth consecutive loss.
Heading into Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, the major storyline for the Knicks was the health of their star center Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns suffered a knee injury and Sunday’s loss to the Celtics and was held out of Wednesday’s matchup.
With Towns sidelined and Mitchell Robinson still out, the Knicks turned to Ariel Hukporti to fill in for Towns in the starting lineup. The 22-year-old big man had a solid start to the game, which was his first of his career, but he was ruled out during the fourth quarter due to a sprained left knee that he had suffered in the third quarter.
Precious Achiuwa replaced Hukporti after he was ruled out and Hukporti finished the contest with eight points, two rebounds and one block in 16 minutes in his first career NBA start.
This is just another major blow for the Knicks’ frontcourt. New York is already without Towns and Robinson, and Hukporti will now add his name to their list of injured big men.
The good news for the Knicks is that Towns is not expected to be sidelined for very long and Robinson is expected to make his season debut very soon. Despite this, the Knicks may be without a true big man in Friday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, which could be a major blow due to Memphis’ frontcourt duo of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey.