Karl-Anthony Towns has a bone chip in his sprained right thumb, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post reports. The injury came on Monday, when Towns’ New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons. Towns smacked his hand on the backboard during a drive, and the sprained thumb that followed kept him out of Wednesday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. After the game, Bondy reported that he has a bone chip in addition to the sprain.
The good news for the Knicks, however, is that Towns is expected to play through the injury. He is still dealing with the sprain, but it was swelling in that right thumb that kept him out against the 76ers, not the bone chip.
Still, an injury of any variety to his right hand is very important for Towns. The four-time All-Star is averaging 25.4 points per game in his debut season with the Knicks, and he’s done so in large part thanks to his excellent 3-point shooting. He has made 44.9% of his long-range attempts, a new career-high.
Discomfort in that right thumb would obviously make it harder for Towns to keep shooting at that level, so his pain tolerance will be essential to the Knicks if they plan to make a serious run at the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They currently trail the Boston Celtics by two games in the standings.
Outside of Mitchell Robinson, who has not yet played this season, New York has been remarkably healthy this season. None of their five starters have missed more than three games despite playing some of the most minutes in all of basketball. Now that durability is getting tested, and only time will tell if Towns can keep up his excellent season with an injured hand.
