Veteran Knicks guard Cameron Payne missed Friday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks with a hamstring injury, marking his third straight game sidelined with the nagging issue.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau cautiously suggested Payne’s return could be imminent when asked if the reserve playmaker could hypothetically practice if one were to occur on Friday.
“He did more today, so I think he’s getting closer,” Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Bucks. “I don’t want to speak prematurely so just taking it day by day.”
The Knicks have missed Payne, who emerged as the backup floor general in minutes Jalen Brunson spends off the floor. The Knicks, however, ranked dead-last in bench points per game entering Friday.
Payne is averaging 5.6 points and 3.2 assists this season with the Knicks, shooting 36 percent from the field and 26 percent from deep, though he is a career 37 percent three-point shooter and is expected to return closer to his average as the season progresses.
ACHIUWA NOT PRACTICING
Backup forward Precious Achiuwa, who strained his hamstring in the preseason finale against the Washington Wizards, is “still day-to-day,” Thibodeau said on Friday, noting Achiuwa has not yet been cleared to return to practice but is “feeling better.”
After losing Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency, the Knicks re-signed Achiuwa to a one-year, $6 million deal, but Achiuwa’s injury, coupled with Mitchell Robinson’s extended injury return timeline, has left the Knicks severely thin at center, where Karl-Anthony Towns plays the majority of the minutes, and either Jericho Sims or Ariel Hukporti fill-in as needed.
GETTING THEM UP
The Knicks attempted 153 threes over their four-game road trip for an average of 38.3 attempts per game, much more on par with Thibodeau’s desire to get up closer to 40 triples per game this season.
“The game will tell you what to do,” he said. “I think the pace has to be faster, in the half court. Usually you’re going to get your 3s in transition and then you’re going to get it off dribble penetration where you have the collapsing defense, and then the rim read, attacking the paint and then spraying the ball out. If you force the defense to collapse then you have to set your shot and you’ve got the bigs off bodies and if you get those offensive rebounds, kick it out for a three. The long rebounds you can turn those into threes with a quick swing to the weak side.”
