Scott Perry Answers Curious Question About Knicks' Chemistry

"You've got to get them back sooner rather than later," Perry said. "To start this season, Julius Randle had missed all of the offseason with ankle surgery and we saw how long it took him to get back, acclimated to start the season. There were calls for him to be traded because he started off so slowly."

To Perry's point, Randle drew jeers for a slow start to the season while working off the procedure, one that saw him shoot less than 28 percent from the floor over his first six games. The injury in question was an ankle ailment sustained in one of the final five games of last regular season. 

Perry noted that while Randle was able to return, he was clearly lacking certain levels in the postseason, where he averaged less than 20 points and shot only 28 percent from three in the Knicks' six-game ousting at the hands of the Miami Heat.

"He gets injured in the last five games of the regular season after having a fantastic regular season, and struggles in the playoffs because he could never get his rhythm back," Perry said. "That is going to be key here for the Knicks, that he gets back (quickly)."

There does appear to be light at the end of the Knicks' tunnel: Anunoby and Randle are inching toward their respective returns and there's hope that Mitchell Robinson, whose December ankle injury started this onslaught, can make it back to the floor by season's end. If/when they finally arise, however, questions will arise about team chemistry, especially if they're coming back in the shadow of the postseason's sunrise. 

So how many games will it take for new-look New York to get used to each other? Perry hypothesized "a minimum of 10."

"That allows the new acquisitions like Burks and Bogdanovic to go ahead and figure out how they're going to fit in," Perry said. "Then (head coach Tom Thibodeau) has got to figure everything out in terms of the minutes."

The Knicks' 73rd game of the season lands on March 29... just over three weeks away... when they face the San Antonio Spurs on the road but the team has more pressing issues before it gets to that landmark. 

New York has a vital three-game homestand to brave, as the fourth-place Orlando Magic visit on Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) before it endures consecutive visits from the Philadelphia 76ers that lead into their annual road trip to accommodate the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament's descent upon Madison Square Garden. Orlando, New York, and Philadelphia respectively place fourth, fifth, and seventh in the East are separated by 1.5 games entering Thursday night play.