Joakim Noah is injured again.
The 31-year-old missed a chunk of the preseason with ankle and hamstring issues. Then he missed a pair of games last week while recovering from the flu. Now he has a sprained ankle, and it’s unclear how much time he’ll need to recuperate, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
Joakim Noah’s chance at redemption will have to wait.
Noah’s struggles hit another speed bump as a sprained left ankle prevented him from facing his former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau when the Knicks started a home-and-home against the Timberwolves Wednesday at Target Center.
Noah hurt his ankle in the first quarter Monday against Oklahoma City and that could have factored into his awful fourth quarter, when Thunder center Enes Kanter embarrassed him on the boards in the rough loss.
“You’d like to come into the season and just be healthy, never miss a beat,’’ coach Jeff Hornacek said. “It’s been up and down — ankle hamstring, sickness. Things are hitting him, but it’s a long season.”
The Knicks won’t be complaining. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves without Noah, who has looked off all season. He got killed down the stretch of the Knicks’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, ceding position and rebounds to Enes Kanter and Steven Adams, and he’s looked a jillion steps slow all season.
Noah being Noah, has refused to use age or injuries or general regression as an excuse. And for all the pessimists out there, it’s still early. But there’s no denying that Knicks have looked better without Noah on the court this season.
When you give someone $72.6 million to play the best position for your best player (Kristaps Porzingis, center), that’s a problem, a legitimate concern, no matter how early it might be.
