Halfway into the first quarter of the New York Knicks' Wednesday night matchup against the Sacramento Kings, Jalen Brunson went back to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury.
At the time of his early exit, the Knicks were trailing by double digits against the struggling Kings.
Ankle-related setbacks aren't anything new to Brunson. The sharpshooter has missed his fair share of games since last season due to ankle sprains, raising a real cause for concern as he went down on Wednesday.
Will Brunson Return for Knicks-Kings?
After spending a chunk of the first half on the bench, the Knicks labeled Brunson as questionable to return to the court on Wednesday night. New York needs to ensure he’s not in danger of suffering a significant setback, as they struggle against the Kings on the road.
The Knicks are back in the Eastern Conference's second seed. With a 25-14 record, they got back out in front of the Jayson Tatum-less Boston Celtics. Since the Knicks were crowned the NBA Cup Champions, they've struggled to find consistency. Recently, they've gone 5-5 over their past 10 games.
This season, Brunson has appeared in 36 matchups. The veteran guard has been shooting 48 percent from the field, knocking down 38 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
The Knicks' star is putting up 28.9 points per game, which marks a career-high pace so far. Along with his scoring, Brunson has produced 6.3 assists per game, along with 3.3 rebounds per game.
Earlier this season, Brunson missed two games in a row against the Miami Heat. The mid-November stretch was his first set of consecutive absences. His only other missed game came against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 23.
Being fortunate in the availability department this season, Brunson is recognized as one of the NBA's top candidates for the league's MVP race. On NBA.com's latest MVP ladder, Brunson took a dip to the seventh spot, trailing Detroit Pistons star, Cade Cunningham, who hasn't moved from No. 6.
Despite the slight drop in the ladder, Brunson is still near the top of the Eastern Conference All-Star voting results, signaling he's on pace to earn his third-straight All-Star nod this season.
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