The New York Knicks were right-on with their optimism that Julius Randle would be back in weeks rather than in months.
The Knicks announced on Thursday that star big man Randle has been officially diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder. He will be re-evaluated in two-to-three weeks.
Randle, a two-time All-Star, was injured on Jan. 27 against the Miami Heat. He was going up for a layup in the fourth quarter when he was upended by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. (who was trying to take a charge) and crashed awkwardly to the floor.
With the All-Star break coming up later this month, the Knicks’ update on Randle means that he will almost certainly not return until Feb. 22 against the Philadelphia 76ers – New York’s first game of the second half – at the earliest. But the Knicks have secured back-to-back double-digit wins in the two games since Randle went down and are still riding an active eight-game winning streak overall.
The team can keep the machine humming along by inserting Josh Hart into the starting lineup, giving Precious Achiuwa a larger role off their bench and running more of the offense through Jalen Brunson (up top), OG Anunoby (on the wing), and Isaiah Hartenstein (in the post). The Knicks have been impressively resilient this season, earlier overcoming another big injury to rocket to 31-17 overall (third in the East).
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