Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride injury issues leave Knicks thin at point guard

Jalen Brunson missed his first game of the season Wednesday night against the Jazz at Madison Square Garden with a right calf injury. 

The Knicks’ point guard depth took another hit when Miles McBride, who had been announced as Brunson’s replacement in the lineup, suffered hamstring tightness and was listed as questionable. 

Cameron Payne ended up getting the start.

Prior to tipoff, head coach Tom Thibodeau called Brunson’s status a game-time decision. 

The Knicks starting lineup has been very durable so far this season, with only Karl-Anthony Towns missing a pair of games and Josh Hart sitting once. 

Brunson is averaging 25.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists per contest while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from the 3-point range in 33 games.

Payne was making his first start of the season Wednesday.

While the 30-year-old Payne’s presence in the lineup in place of Brunson gives the Knicks some experience, Hart’s role in the offense increased with Brunson out. 

The Knicks have made a habit of relying on Brunson for pretty much everything, but Hart has been able to take some pressure off the point guard with his growing comfort in bringing the ball up the court and getting the offense going. 

Hart said he’d also done it to a degree in his previous stops with Portland and New Orleans, but has embraced it more with the Knicks now that he’s become one of the main cogs in the offense. 

“I’ve always done it a little bit [and] the last two or three years I’ve gotten more comfortable with the number of times I’ve done it,’’ Hart said. 

Asked before Brunson was ruled out if his unavailability would impact Hart’s approach to the game, Hart said, “It doesn’t change mine at all. My approach is always to go out there and make the right play. Whether guys are in there or not doesn’t matter to me.” 

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Hart is scoring 14.4 points with a career-high 8.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists over 32 games. 

Thibodeau previously praised Hart’s ability to control the offense in an effort to take some pressure off Brunson. 

“He’s done it since he’s been here,” Thibodeau said of Hart. “So it’s just a way to — sometimes, I think with Jalen, if teams are trying to pick him up full-court, Josh can bring it up and he can initiate the action, and we could trigger it that way. 

“And I think it’s a different look. I think it puts more pressure on guys guarding Jalen, too, because there’s guys that are good at guarding off the dribble and not as good guarding off the catch, off a live ball. And so, you try to take advantage of it that way.” 

Even when Brunson is controlling the ball, Hart’s ability to also initiate the offense gives the lineup more flexibility. 

“The thing that we want to establish is to play with pace, to get it up the floor fast and then create movement,’’ Thibodeau said. “And once we create the movement, we want everyone playing to their strengths. … And I like the way Josh [plays] because of his rebounding and his ability to push the ball. I think those are the hardest fast breaks to stop. And so we want as many easy baskets as we can get. Want as many layups as we can get. And I think he helps initiate that.” 

Hart has also shown an ability to finish at the rim, connecting at a career-best 39.1 percent clip from 3-point range entering Wednesday’s game after shooting just 30.1 percent from long range last season.