The injury-ravaged Knicks certainly could use a few warm bodies after employing a seven-man rotation in the second half of Thursday’s loss to the Mavericks.
Recently acquired veterans Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic are expected to play when the Knicks face the Pacers on Saturday night at the Garden.
But center Isaiah Hartenstein already has been ruled out after leaving Thursday’s game at halftime after aggravating his recurring left Achilles injury. He also missed two games due to the issue in January.
Hartenstein has averaged 8.3 points and 11.2 rebounds in 24 games as a starter this season, with Mitchell Robinson sidelined since early December following ankle surgery.
Jalen Brunson is listed as questionable again after sitting out Thursday’s game with a sprained right ankle.
Brunson, who went on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Friday night, was asked about his right ankle.
“Everything’s good,” Brunson told Fallon before adding “we’ll see” about when he will return to the lineup.
The Knicks also were without Julius Randle (shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow) and Jericho Sims (illness) against the Mavericks. Sims also is questionable for Saturday’s game, and if he can’t go, the Knicks likely will go with a center tandem of Precious Achiuwa and Taj Gibson.
After trading four players in their deadline deal with the Pistons, the Knicks had to use a seven-man rotation in Thursday’s second half after Hartenstein departed, including two players on two-way contracts: Charlie Brown Jr. and Jacob Toppin.
Gibson, as expected, was signed to a second 10-day contract, according to a league source.
The Knicks will have to decide whether to offer the longtime Tom Thibodeau favorite a deal for the remainder of the season.
If the Knicks are shorthanded again Saturday night against the Pacers, Toppin could get rotation minutes against his older brother, former Knicks forward Obi Toppin.
The siblings briefly shared an NBA court for the first time Dec. 30 in Indiana, when the Knicks also were shorthanded following the Anunoby trade.
The Toppins both got into that game in the closing minutes, but Jacob Toppin did not play when the Pacers came to MSG last month.
“It was amazing having him on the court with me [in Indiana]. Hopefully we can do that again,” Obi Toppin said during his last visit. “It would be even better if we are able to do that here in New York and at the Garden.”
Jacob Toppin will represent the Knicks in the Slam Dunk Contest later this month, two years after Obi Toppin won the showcase competition.
