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Good evening, friends. The New York Knicks don’t play Thursday night, but fortunately we have only one more day until they return to the court against the hated Brooklyn Nets.
The ‘Bockers practiced Thursday afternoon, and welcomed back young big man Mitchell Robinson.
Mitchell Robinson is questionable for tomorrow vs. BKN due to ankle injury. He practiced today and it went well, per David Fizdale. Robinson is also playing with a dislocated finger in his shooting hand, he told SNY. Fizdale said it was possible that Robinson would start vs BKN.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 24, 2019
Mitch missed the Knicks season opener after rolling his ankle in practice on Monday. David Fizdale caused a stink Wednesday when he kinda, sorta implied that he might have started Bobby Portis regardless of whether or not Mitch had been healthy. Portis played pretty well in the opener, with 8 points on 4-10 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds and an eye-catching 5 assists. The Knicks’ frontcourt failed to block a single shot, however, so you can see where Big Mitch could come in handy. Will he start in Brooklyn against fellow youngster Jarrett Allen and former mentor DeAndre Jordan? We’ll see soon enough.
Meanwhile, Fizdale is still doing his “I’m not revealing the starting lineup yet” thing, though it seems pretty obvious that veteran Elfrid Payton will take over the point guard position Friday.
David Fizdale again was effusive of his praise of Elfrid Payton but he isn’t ready to reveal his starting lineup for Friday yet. Fizdale was asked if Payton is a strong candidate to start at PG vs. Brooklyn. He agreed with the characterization, so it sounds like Payton will start
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 24, 2019
Fizdale started Allonzo Trier against San Antonio, which was pretty obviously a bad idea even before Trier pooped all over the court in the first quarter. Payton took over the reigns and was New York’s most effective non-RJ guard (11 points, 8 assists, 0 turnovers, 5 steals).
I’m no Payton fan, but he clearly earned the starting job with his play in San Antonio. Now we just wait for Fizdale to say it out loud.