With Karl-Anthony Towns unable to play Wednesday night, rookie center Ariel Hukporti made the first start of his NBA career.
But he couldn’t make it through the entire game, departing the Knicks’ win over the Sixers in the fourth quarter with a sprained left knee.
Tom Thibodeau claimed he hadn’t spoken to the team’s medical staff after the game, and offered no update on Hukporti, who originally appeared to injure the knee in a third quarter collision.
“I thought Ariel gave us good minutes,” Thibodeau said of the 7-foot Hukporti, who finished the game with eight points, two offensive rebounds and one blocked shot in 16 minutes. “He’s a young guy who’s learning and getting better. Each experience, when he plays, you’re gonna learn something.”
Towns had been listed as questionable with recurring knee soreness, but he was ruled out shortly before tipoff.
The All-Star center appeared to tweak his knee in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss in Boston, but he returned to the game after a brief time in the locker room.
Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) still is ramping up in practice before potentially making his season debut later this week.
The Knicks had moved another reserve big man, Jericho Sims, at the trade deadline earlier this month.
Former Knicks guard Quentin Grimes already is on his third team since he was dealt to Detroit by the Knicks before last year’s trade deadline.
The former first-round pick also went from the Mavericks to the Sixers at this year’s deadline.
Grimes entered the game averaging 14.9 points in his first seven appearances with the Sixers, but he scored just three points in 20 minutes.
“Great person. Hard worker. Strong on both sides of the ball. I think he’s a terrific player,” Thibodeau said. “He had some injuries that probably slowed him down a little bit, but a terrific player.”
Joel Embiid (knee) remained out for the Sixers, who also were without veteran guards Kyle Lowry (hip) and Eric Gordon, who underwent wrist surgery on Tuesday.
