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Kevin Knox's season got off to a bad start on Saturday at the Garden while the damn franchise was even more fortunate.
Knox, the rookie lottery pick, was helped off the field by two teammates and a coach after being the victim of a foul during a fast fast and rolling his left ankle at the end of the first quarter of the tight match of the Knicks 103-101, last second loss to the powerful Celtics in the garden.
Knox writhed in pain in court after Terry Rozier hit him with a time remaining at 1:45, and he was unable to gain weight when he got up.
While the garden was silent, Knox, 19, was taken directly into the locker room, but fears of the worst case scenario were appeased, with X-rays showing a sprained left ankle, not a fracture.
The injury triggered the club's game as the Knicks caught up 11 points after Knox fell. Trey Burke, of the Knicks, made a foul of Jayson Tatum on a 40-foot goal with 1.5 seconds to go. Burke missed the first free throw, ending the drama.
Tim Hardaway Jr. (24 points) combined two runs in three sets to get the Knicks to tie at 89-89 with the Celtics at 4:12 of the end. He swayed his right arm as a sign of celebration when coach Brad Stevens called the timeout.
Kyrie Irving, the 2019 free agent from West Orange, N.J., is then put to work, helping the following seven points. He made two free throws, then a nice rebound pass for Al Horford for a layup and a 93-89 lead with 3:20 left. Irving (16 points) then performed an amazing double ahead of Noah Vonleh and was fouled.
After Lance Thomas hit a 3 to get closer in 99-98 with 50 seconds to go, Jayson Tatum highlighted his 24-point performance by dropping 15 feet after missing a dunk and getting his own rebound. That put the Celtics in front of 101-98 with 22 seconds to go and they clung, Tatum's two free throws only chilling the ball with 7.9 seconds to go.
Knox was compared to Tatum before the NBA draft by Kentucky coach John Calipari.
The Knicks (1-2) fight against the Celtics was a secondary consequence of the assessment of the severity of the sprain and timing of Knox's ankle. A moderate sprained ankle takes only 1 to 2 weeks. It was not clear he needed an MRI exam to further examine his sprained ligaments.
Knox, at the end of a 17-point game in Brooklyn, was playing the third game of his career. Its development is considered a crucial element of the 2018-19 season.
The Knicks are already grappling with the uncertain return of Kristaps Porzingis, who tore his ACL catastrophically last February and put the plan of the new regime even more in patience.
Second-year goaltender Damyean Dotson, who did not play the first two games, showed up at Knox. The Celtics were allowed to pick the free throw shooter in the absence of Knox and chose rookie center Mitchell Robinson, who made 1 of 2 to reduce the deficit to 10 points, 28-18.
The Celtics rested Gordon Hayward, who had fractured his left ankle during his debut in Boston a year ago. Boston was careful to let Hayward play a second game in two nights.
The garden has been a horror house for Knox. In his previous four Garden games, including three in pre-season, he had shot only 13 out of 50. In Kentucky, as a freshman, he played a game at Garden vs. Monmouth and shot 1 of 9.
On Saturday, the 19-year-old arrived with a time remaining at 5:46 in the first quarter and missed his only right elbow attempt. He had a goal, making one of two free throws, when he left.
The Knicks were trailing 26-10 after 8 minutes when Irving went up early. Before the match, Fizdale said Irving was "a guy I would pay to see," Irving said.
The entrance to Dotson gave the club a boost. Dotson tied two 3 points at the end of the second quarter and scored eight at halftime.
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