The Knicks had to use a different starting lineup for the first time this season.
Karl-Anthony Towns did not play in Friday’s contest against the Nets because of a contused left knee, an injury he picked up toward the end of Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss to the Bulls.
Towns knocked legs with Chicago’s Zach LaVine.
He limped through a couple of possessions, grimacing in pain, but never checked out.
He was listed as questionable before being ruled out on the same day as his 29th birthday.
Towns’ availability has been a question in recent campaigns, with the center failing to play more than 62 games in four of the last five seasons with the Timberwolves.
Jericho Sims took his lineup spot at center, with Precious Achiuwa missing his 12th straight game with a strained hamstring.
Towns was joined on the inactive list by Miles McBride, who was also a late scratch due to an illness.
McBride has also been dealing with knee soreness.
Cam Payne, who returned from a hamstring strain earlier this week, was expected to play a bigger role of the bench.
Achiuwa is nearing the four-week mark of a hamstring strain that was originally announced as 2-4 weeks before a reevaluation.
But apparently there have been daily reevaluations and he still hasn’t been cleared for practice.
“He’s reevaluated every day,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So yes, he has been reevaluated. The depth of it, I’m not sure. I know they’ve increased his activity. I think that part is good. With the hamstring, we just want to make sure it’s not a problem that will linger.”
Rookie Pacome Dadiet, the Knicks’ first first-round pick in three years, had a one-game stint in the rotation but that ended after a blowout loss to Boston in the opener.
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Assistant coach Rick Brunson explained on a podcast appearance why Dadiet’s rope should be long before they give up on the teenager.
“If you take a young kid, like [Dadiet], the guy we just drafted,” Brunson said on the ‘Roommates Show,’ hosted by his son, Jalen. “You take him. To me, you got to give him a window. A college window. Four to five years. You can’t give up on a kid who is going through his college years in the NBA.”
