MIAMI — Another day, another sprained ankle.
Immanuel Quickley became the latest player in this series to suffer the dreaded leg turn, limping off the field in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 106-85 Game 3 loss to the Heat.
The backup guard didn’t show much swelling in the locker room afterward, but he had Quickley on the court in agony right after.
“It hurt a lot,” he said.
Quickley was unsure of his status for Monday’s Game 4.
“No idea,” he said. “We will see.”
With about six minutes remaining and the Knicks trailing by 19, Quickley took possession of Heat center Bam Adebayo in the paint. Adebayo dived for the loose ball and clipped the legs of Quickley, who was lucky to avoid a knee injury.
The Knicks called a timeout, and Quickley limped to the locker room, where he remained until the end of the game.
“We will know more [on Sunday],” coach Tom Thibodeau said.
After appearing as a Sixth Man of the Year Candidate, Quickley was a disappointment in the playoffs while shooting just 34.8 percent overall and 24.3 percent from beyond the arc. His struggles continued on Saturday, missing 8 of his 12 attempts.
“I do not know if [Miami] he did something different,” Quickley said. “Go back and watch film, see where we can improve offensively. See what we did well, see what we need to work on. I thought I looked good. But like I said, get in the film room and you feel better.”
New York’s bench was outrebounded by Miami’s, 32-25.
“Defensively we have to be better,” Quickley said. “I know they jumped on us early, down 9-0. Duncan Robinson got an immediate 3 [for Miami]. They were getting offensive rebounds. I have to be better from the jump.”
DUSTUP
A small brawl broke out in the final seconds of the third quarter. Julius Randle and Cody Zeller battled for a comeback that got heated when Zeller added a push at the end.
Isaiah Hartenstein entered the scene to push Zeller. Caleb Martin pushed Hartenstein. It wasn’t a 1990s Heat-Knicks battle, but it still resulted in three technical fouls (two on the Heat, one on the Knicks).
“I’m going to protect my teammate no matter what,” Hartenstein said. “I saw [Zeller] I push Julius to the ground and no matter who it is, I will always protect my teammate. That’s what I thought was necessary at the time.”
Randle, who had mixed it up with Zeller on previous possessions, called the situation “irrelevant.” After the players were separated, Jimmy Butler started dancing on the field.
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