Miles McBride tried not to rush back from the knee injury that sidelined him for five games this month, but the Knicks sixth man believes it’s something he will have to manage following his return to the lineup Monday night in Denver.
McBride, who hadn’t played since Nov. 13 against the Bulls, scored 13 points in 28 minutes in Monday’s win over the Nuggets.
“I felt great, honestly,” the fourth-year guard said after the game. “Shout-out to our training staff, just being there, and shout-out the organization just having my back through the entire thing and figuring it out. Getting back out there with the guys, it felt great.”
The Knicks termed McBride’s injury as patella femoral pain syndrome in his left knee, which is commonly known as runner’s knee.
“I would say we’re definitely gonna be managing it going forward,” McBride said. “We just wanna be more precautionary I think than anything, just to make sure everything is right. I felt great and I think it’s gonna be behind me, but I just want to be smart with it.”
The 24-year-old McBride is averaging 10.9 points per game this season while shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range.
“Conditioning-wise, he’s pretty good for the amount of time that he’s been out,” Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s another guy that can shoot the ball and he can get into the paint and break it down off the dribble, and he plays off people extremely well. So I think when he gets going defensively, he’ll be a big plus for us.”
Among NBA players with at least 100 3-point attempts this season, OG Anunoby is the only one shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 40 percent or better from deep, 60 percent on 2-point attempts and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
He is averaging 23.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals over his past nine appearances entering Wednesday’s road game against the Mavericks.
Precious Achiuwa (hamstring) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) remain out for the Knicks.
Luka Doncic (wrist) and Dante Exum (wrist) are out for the Mavs, while Klay Thompson (foot), Dereck Lively II (illness) and ex-Knick Quentin Grimes (illness) are questionable.