Derrick Rose misses Knicks’ blowout loss to Spurs due to health and safety protocols
A late announcement that point guard Derrick Rose was unavailable threw the Knicks’ rotation further in flux, and the team responded with an absolute dud — a blowout defeat Tuesday night to the Spurs, 119-93, with a ho-hum defensive effort.
It snapped a three-game winning for the Knicks (18-18), who’ve hit the halfway mark of the abbreviated season at .500. Rose had started the three previous games at point guard but was announced pregame as entering the league’s health and safety protocols. The Knicks did not say whether Rose tested positive for COVID-19 or came in contact with another infected person.
Either way, he’ll probably have to sit out until at least after the All-Star break, which will follow Thursday’s game against the Pistons.
Frank Ntilikina got the surprise start at point guard Tuesday and was effective offensively with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. But the starting lineup was overmatched by the Spurs (18-13), who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back after an OT loss to the Nets and were missing LaMarcus Aldridge (illness). They whipped the ball around the court, mopping the Knicks will little-known players like Drew Eubanks and Luka Samanic. These weren’t your Tim Duncan Spurs. But the Knicks lost to them anyway, like old times.
Julius Randle played his worst game in almost a month, scoring just 14 points with three turnovers on 6-of-16 shooting. It was the first time Randle hadn’t scored at least 20 points since Feb. 9, snapping a nine-game streak. The Knicks were outscored by 23 points in RJ Barrett’s 28 minutes.
Immanuel Quickley was a bright spot off the bench with 26 points, but much of his production was empty and arrived in garbage time. Despite the Knicks being shorthanded at guard, coach Tom Thibodeau gave Austin Rivers another DNP. Rivers has acknowledged that a trade could be coming.
Rose was playing well after taking over the starting job from the injured Elfrid Payton, keying that three-game winning streak heading into Tuesday. Payton is still being listed as ‘day-to-day’ with his groin strain, although Thibodeau calls most injuries ‘day-to-day’ despite varying severities and never provides recovery timelines.
