Knicks Will ‘Be Smart’ With PG’s Injury

“Deuce” missed five games but the New York Knicks’ top reserve was back to his old self on Monday night in Denver.

Miles McBride returned to action for the Knicks after dealing with a knee injury, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field in New York’s 145-118 shellacking of the Denver Nuggets. McBride did a little bit of everything in the Mile High City as he accompanied six rebounds with three assists.

“I felt great, honestly,” McBride said in the aftermath, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “Shoutout to our training staff, just being there, and shoutout the organization [for] just having my back through the entire thing and figuring it out. Getting back out there with the guys, it felt great.”

It was a busy night for McBride, who earned 28 minutes after his extended medical departure. The fourth-year New Yorker hinted that such a workload might not be the immediate norm as the Knicks (10-7) slowly start to welcome back injured depth into their lineup.

“I would say we’re definitely going to be managing it going forward,” McBride said in Botte’s report. “We just want to be more precautionary, I think, than anything, just to make sure everything is right. I felt great and I think it’s going to be behind me, but I just want to be smart with it.”

Though buried under copious history, McBride’s return was one of several headlines for the Knicks, who have passed the halfway point of a five-game road trip. Prior to his injury, some pegged McBride as a premature Sixth Man of the Year contender, as he’s currently averaging 10.9 points and 2.6 assists and rebounds each per game, which would set new career-highs.

The Knicks’ bench managed to make do without McBride thanks to Cameron Payne as well as complentary minutes from rookies Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, however, refused to dilute McBride’s impact after Monday’s game.

“He’s another guy that can shoot the ball and he can get into the paint and break it down off the dribble, and he plays off people extremely well,” Thibodeau said, per Botte. ”So I think when he gets going defensively, he’ll be a big plus for us.”

McBride and the Knicks return to action on Friday when they play the final game of their road trip in Houston (12:00 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).

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