Knicks Reveal Karl-Anthony Towns Injury

The new year has brought another new addition to the New York Knicks’ injury report.

The listing for the Knicks’ Monday tilt against the Orlando Magic (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) has Karl-Anthony Towns (patellar tendinopathy) questionable for the first game of a lengthy stretch on the Eastern Seaboard for the Knicks. Joining Towns in a similar status is Miles McBride (strained hamstring) while Jalen Brunson is probable with calf tightness.

Towns was one of the Knicks’ silver linings in the latter of consecutive weekend losses, as he had 44 points and 16 rebounds in the 139-126 loss to the Chicago Bulls. As he was fouled on a fastbreak in the penultimate minute, Towns got up limping and immediately ventured to the New York locker room. Towns had played just over 37 minutes on Saturday night, less than 24 hours after he played 42 on Friday in Oklahoma City.

Towns, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, has missed just one game this season due to injury, as he sat out of the Knicks’ Dec. 7 loss in Detroit. Jericho Sims started in his place but mostly gave way to Precious Achiuwa after but six minutes of action.

Towns, of course, has performed as advertised in New York and he seems to be well on pace to return to the All-Star Game. Entering Sunday play, Towns was leading the NBA in rebounds per game at 14.0 while he has also tallied 25.3 points.

Brunson has been a bit of a mainstay on the last-week plus of Knicks injury reports but has only missed one game in that span (Jan. 1’s win over Utah). McBride, on the other hand, has missed each of the last three and the Knicks’ second unit has sorely missed the two-way spark he has provided.

Orlando’s injury report was not available as of press time. The Magic (21-15) have somewhat sputtered as they continue to deal with injuries to their headliners but may be getting Paolo Banchero back soon: their franchise face has not played since Oct. 31 but entered “return to play conditioning” shortly after Christmas.

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