Miles McBride was spotted by The Post leaving the Knicks’ practice facility Monday morning in a walking boot, with coach Mike Brown revealing that the backup guard was en route to an MRI to determine the severity of his injured left ankle.
McBride appeared to turn his ankle while driving to the basket in a victory over the Magic on Sunday afternoon, when he tumbled in pain but got up to shoot the foul shots.
His X-rays were negative, but the fact he was still wearing a walking boot Monday wasn’t a good sign for his availability in Tuesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup in Toronto.
Brown said he was awaiting the MRI results and didn’t know whether McBride was traveling with the team to Toronto.
“I actually asked him that before he went to get an MRI,” Brown said. “He said he doesn’t know.”
McBride had been enjoying a breakout month while averaging 14.6 points in his last seven games while shooting 57.4% on treys. He was also accumulating more playing time following the shoulder injury to Landry Shamet, reinforcing his value to a rotation that is thin on backup guards.
If McBride is missing games, the Knicks have a depth conundrum, but Brown said the backup point guard position isn’t burdened by many responsibilities. As it stands, Tyler Kolek is the backup behind Jalen Brunson, but the Knicks have struggled when he’s on the court.
“You guys watch us enough — we don’t put a ton of pressure on our backup point guard to make plays for everybody else. I call the position a push-man, but it’s a push-man initiator,” Brown said, adding later, “so as long as we have guys who can pass, dribble or shoot, then we feel good. And when I say dribble, I mean just bring the ball up and initiate the offense. Because then the dominoes fall on their own.”
Still, McBride has filled multiple holes for the Knicks — a shot creator with efficient 3-point shooting who is also a tenacious on-ball defender — so his absence would be felt. The Knicks (16-7) are 0-3 this season when McBride doesn’t play.
He missed two games following a death in his family and a third because of an illness.
“He’s been playing phenomenal,” Brunson said. “If things do happen (that he misses games because of the ankle injury), then yeah, obviously, we’re missing a huge piece of our team.
“Healthy or not, Deuce has been remarkable this year. The way he’s been shooting, the way he’s been playing defense, everything he’s doing has impacted winning. He’s been playing great. So we’ll see how things go. But obviously we’ll need him.”
Karl-Anthony Towns, who sat out Sunday’s game with calf tightness, participated in Monday’s practice but Brown wasn’t ready to reveal the center’s status for Toronto.
“We’re still evaluating him,” Brown said.
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