Steve Popper: Knicks still have to figure out how to make phantom combinations work for playoffs
The Knicks' Miles McBride reacts following a basket during a game against the Hornets on Nov. 26, 2025 in Charlotte, N.C. Credit: Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton
MILWAUKEE — Deuce McBride has been with the Knicks throughout this road trip, and on Friday he was in uniform at least for morning shootaround and for some pregame workouts before slipping back into street clothes as he continues his rehabilitation from a core muscle surgical procedure.
His presence was a positive sign, but as he discussed the injury and rehab for the first time Friday, there remains no clear timeline for a return. But there will come a day, the Knicks hope, when the playoffs are beginning and all of the pieces will be in place. And then Mike Brown likely will have to sort through his options, including combinations that haven’t spent a second together in a game this season.
But for now, figuring out how the bench pieces will fit, what combinations work and when to weaponize them is a problem for another day, and maybe not even the most important factor for the Knicks.
Nights like Friday — when Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby took turns carrying the team as the Knicks finished the trip with a 127-98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks — everything else just seems like a luxury.
Brunson had 22 of his 27 points in the first quarter. Towns put up 12 of his 17 in the second as the Knicks (38-22) took a 77-57 halftime lead. Anunoby added 15 of his 24 in the third.
Time on the court for McBride these days is limited to form shooting, a slow process back from the procedure he underwent three weeks ago. No jumping. Cautious work to strengthen himself. He has no clear timeline, with a hope and goal to return in time for the playoffs.
McBride was a key to the Knicks’ early-season success, as he has been for years now. With every judgment on this season based on what happens in the playoffs, the Knicks need him back. Having the team at full strength is part of any belief of what they can be.
The work isn’t just his as he rehabilitates and works his way back. Part of what the Knicks are doing — have been doing all season long — is working to fit all of the pieces together.
McBride missed his 14th straight game Friday night and already has been sidelined for 25 games this season. Even at the most optimistic projections for his recovery — on the short end of the six- to eight-week rehab — he would not be back until late March. The back end of the projection would put him at the start of the postseason.
“It’s really no exact timeline,” McBride said.“Just trying to do everything I can do to get back right and do whatever I can to help this team win.”
Asked if he might return in the regular season, he said, “That’s always the goal for sure. But right now there’s no exact timeline.”
After he was sidelined this time, the Knicks traded for Jose Alvarado, and with the opening created by McBride’s absence, Alvarado already has found his place in the rotation.
There was no easing in for Alvarado, thrown right in for 25 minutes in a huge spot in Boston in his first game with the team. A spark plug on both ends, he has provided an energy boost with defense — different from McBride, effective in different ways.
“It’s amazing,” McBride said. “The front office is doing an amazing job as always of finding guys and doing what they think what’s needed to help us win. And I’ve always prided myself on being a spark, being an energy guy. Just to have another guy to go out there and battle with is going to be amazing.”
Alvarado returned the praise, noting of McBride’s return, “That’s something I’m excited [for] when he comes back. Obviously, he’s a great player, and I’ve been watching him since he’s been in the league. Get me in a better rhythm? I’ll be in a better rhythm when he comes back, so hopefully when we get together, we make some noise.”
Maybe in the playoffs, with minutes raised for the starters, figuring out bench minutes will take a back seat. But McBride and Alvarado certainly will be important parts of the rotation, along with Landry Shamet and Mitchell Robinson.
How to allocate those minutes and make those combinations work will test the minutes sheet Brown crafts before every game.
“Obviously, as time goes on, they’ll start to let me know when it’s closer,” Brown said. “That’s probably when I’ll [focus on] it. Right now, to spend my energy on it, not as much. I’m trying to lock in on the guys we have right now, trying to get Jose acclimated and get Jeremy [Sochan] acclimated.”
There is time, with no imminent return to action for McBride. He said he is doing form shooting — no jumping — on the court and mostly is limited to strengthening exercises for his core. Still, he was happy to be with the team.
“I just wanted to be with the guys,” he said. “A lot of the time you can be in an isolation mindset being alone. So I feel like being around the guys, and them uplifting me, and me being able to see things from the sideline and do what I do for them. Help them out in any way I can.”
For now, it is all he can do. And the Knicks will wait, hoping that when it matters, they have all the pieces in place and know how to use them.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
