The Knicks’ starting unit mostly has remained healthy all season, with only Karl-Anthony Towns missing a single game due to injury.
But All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson notably left the bench and headed for the locker room with 2:39 left in the third quarter, and he did not return to Thursday’s 125-101 win over the Hornets at the Garden.
Brunson did come back to the bench midway through the fourth quarter wearing a wrap around his midsection, and the Knicks said he was “available” to play, but he did not re-enter the game.
Brunson scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half, but he appeared to land hard after going for a loose ball against center Nick Richards earlier in the third.
His father, assistant coach Rick Brunson, also retreated to the locker between the final two quarters.
Less than one week earlier, the Knicks (14-8) had allowed an undermanned Charlotte squad to hang around the entire game before Tom Thibodeau’s squad escaped with a one-point victory.
The Hornets played the Knicks tough for a while despite missing several top players again Thursday night, but the Knicks pulled away with a 38-16 third-quarter eruption to cruise to their fourth straight win.
OG Anunoby netted 15 of his 25 points — and two key blocked shots on the perimeter on the same possession — during the third-quarter rally.
Mikal Bridges had 19 points and seven assists in a season-high 47 minutes, and NBA rebounding leader Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 27 points with 16 boards for the Knicks, who next will play at home again Saturday night against the Pistons.
Brandon Miller scored 26 to lead the Hornets, who still were without leading scorer LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, among others.
Precious Achiuwa was active for the Knicks for the first time this season after missing 21 games, finishing with two points and four rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
The versatile big man, who filled in ably at both center and power forward last season following a late-December trade from the Raptors, had been unavailable since suffering a strained left hamstring during the Knicks’ final preseason game Oct. 1.
The Knicks trailed by as many as a dozen a few times in the first quarter, including a 32-20 Charlotte advantage with under two minutes remaining.
But the Knicks closed the quarter on a 10-0 spurt (12-0 overall), with Brunson following a Towns 3-pointer with his fourth triple for 19 points in the quarter and a two-point deficit through 12 minutes.
Bridges’ layup and Josh Hart’s long-distance bucket pulled the Knicks even at 35-all early in the second, but the Hornets netted the next seven points, including a 3-pointer by Knicks castoff DaQuan Jeffries.
Achiuwa checked in for the first time this season to a nice ovation barely two minutes into the quarter.
Anunoby’s dunk on a feed from Brunson and an inside hoop by Bridges nudged the Knicks ahead by two.
Two dunks by Anunoby and a late corner 3 by Hart — who netted 14 in the quarter — helped the Knicks carry a 65-62 lead into intermission.
Anunoby added 10 more points and Towns rocked the rim for a thunderous one-handed dunk during a 21-6 spurt as the Knicks opened up an 18-point bulge by the midpoint of the third.
Anunoby also swatted two Charlotte jumpers into the stands later in the period, earning chants of “OG” from the home crowd.
