On a night the Knicks got triple-doubles from two players for the first time in franchise history, the game ball went to a rookie with two points in three minutes.
It was a long and arduous road for Kevin McCullar Jr., who was sidelined for roughly a year with a knee injury before making his NBA debut in Tuesday’s 128-113 victory over the Mavericks.
The 56th overall pick in last year’s draft was then handed the game ball by Josh Hart, who broke Clyde Frazier’s record for most Knicks triple-doubles in a season but had a good reason to hand the rock to McCullar.
“For me, that’s an easy decision,” Hart said. “That record is cool and a blessing, but at the end of the day that record’s going to get broken at some point. Hopefully, later rather than sooner. But that’s going to get broken. Getting your first NBA points, nobody can take that away from you. It’s important that he had that, got the game ball for that. That’s an easy decision for me.”
McCullar, a 24-year-old wing out of Kansas, was grateful for the ball and the moment.
“It’s been rough, but I kept my head on straight. Everybody has been supporting me here and I’m just glad that I’m back playing now,” McCullar said, adding, “Adversity makes you who you are and everybody goes through it in different ways of life. … Growing up, that’s all I’ve known is playing basketball.”
McCullar was a late addition to Tuesday’s active list — the first time he cracked the NBA roster.
Mitchell Robinson remains restricted from playing in both games of back-to-backs, leaving the center as a DNP on Tuesday against the Mavericks.
Officially, Robinson, who sat 10 months following ankle surgery, was on the injury report for injury management.
The expectation is he will play Wednesday night against the Clippers.
It was the third time Robinson missed one game of a back-to-back set.
With four more on the schedule, Tom Thibodeau offered little on whether restrictions will be lifted.
“We’re watching, monitoring how he’s progressing,” Thibodeau said. “There are certain guidelines we’re trying to follow and then we’ll go from there. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Robinson has also operated on a steadily easing minutes restriction since returning.
Miles McBride missed his second straight game with a groin contusion, an injury he sustained in Wednesday’s loss to the Spurs.
Nevertheless, McBride played 36 minutes the following day in Charlotte.
Then the injury was severe enough to keep him out of consecutive games.
Thibodeau deflected when asked how that happened.
“Just day to day,” the coach said. “Just see how he’s responding.”
