New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson suffered a sprained right ankle in the first quarter and did not return Wednesday night in a 112-101 loss at Sacramento.
Brunson limped off the court at the 7:01 mark of the first quarter after an awkward step on a pass a minute earlier. He was initially deemed questionable to return but was ruled out at halftime.
Brunson, the Knicks’ leading scorer at 28.9 points per game, scored four points in five minutes.
He sat out two games in mid-November because of a right ankle sprain against the Orlando Magic. Last season, he sat out nearly a full month after spraining his right ankle against the Los Angeles Lakers in March. Brunson also tweaked his foot multiple times during last season’s playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Knicks were just beginning to get healthier in the middle of a grueling stretch in which they have played five of their past six games on the road. Josh Hart returned Wednesday after sitting out eight games because of an ankle sprain he suffered on Christmas Day.
The Knicks went 3-5 during Hart’s absence but remain in second place in the Eastern Conference at 25-15. They will travel to San Francisco for a matchup with the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
