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Jan 17, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) reacts during the second half against the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images John Jones-Imagn Images

Knicks May Regret Debuting Miles McBride Against Thunder

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Mar 30, 2026 12:10 PM ET

For most New York Knicks fans, Miles McBride was a welcome sight alongside his on-court teammates. At least, for about 10 minutes.

He'd spent the last two months away from the lineup amidst his recovery from a sports hernia surgery, healing up his core muscles in preparing for the Knicks' oncoming playoff push. McBride had missed enough games for his Knicks to experience a midseason revival before beginning their oh-so-slight descent over recent weeks, still offering highly-competent play on both ends of the floor without one of their key rotation players.

Head coach Mike Brown was eager to inject the shooter and defender back into New York's fold in a high-stakes matchup against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. There was risk involved in his strategy considering the Thunder's reputation as players whose defense occasionally crosses the line into regularly-injuring opponents, and sure enough, McBride intersected with OKC's top clubber, Lu Dort, mere minutes into his comeback bid.

Lu Dort dives on the floor over Miles McBride and then Jared McCain holds the loose ball, as well as his ankle.

He just got back from Hernia surgery pic.twitter.com/NmbngwlfGA
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) March 30, 2026

As if the Knicks' inability to steal the feel-good win wasn't enough of a blow for the striving contenders, there's a chance McBride will miss even more time following that physical encounter. He got up holding the same area of his body that he'd injured in early February, and was spotted saying "I can't walk" to a teammate on the bench.

What Did the Knicks Learn?

New York's lingering wish to see its fully-healthy rotation will persist should McBride return to the IR, especially considering that only seven games remain on the Knicks' schedule. They've had to patch together some of the backup guard minutes with extra use of Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson with McBride and Landry Shamet each unavailable as of late, so expect more creativity out of Brown as he wildly grabs for answers.

And McBride, understandably rusty from so many weeks spent on the Knicks' shelf, couldn't even scrape two points together in his spoiled return. He went scoreless in an 0/3 outing from the field, with the usually-excellent sniper failing to master the Oklahoma City rims before getting sideswiped.

Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Knicks Guard Miles McBride Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Should the Knicks and Thunder, now finished with their regular season showdowns, meet again in the NBA Finals, New York should bookmark that pivotal play in game-planning for their specific brand of "physicality." Dort, the controversial OKC wing who never seems to be far from the scene of a crime, has lunged dangerously before, and he's likely to do it again.

Brown's quest to operate with as many trusted contributors as possible for all to see was an admirable objective in a vacuum, but his choice to deploy McBride wasn't worth the risk in hindsight. If his Knicks are lucky, he won't have re-aggravated anything, and will stake his return to the second unit before the regular season's conclusion in providing the head coach with one more shot at clarity before the postseason's commencement.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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