New York Knicks Joakim Noah Remains Out With Hamstring Injury
New York Knicks center Joakim Noah will miss Thursday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers as he is still battling a hamstring injury.
The New York Knicks went into the All-Star break with Joakim Noah nursing a hamstring injury. They will come out of the All-Star break the same way.
The Knicks starting center is still dealing with the hamstring injury that kept him out of the final five games heading into the All-Star break. They had hoped that the extra rest would help get Noah right, but that has not happened yet.
The Knicks official PR Twitter account shared that Noah, along with Courtney Lee because of illness and Carmelo Anthony, missed practice on Tuesday. Anthony’s was an excused absence as players who participated in the All-Star game are not required to be present.
Carmelo Anthony (excused), Courtney Lee (illness) and Joakim Noah (left hamstring) did not practice today.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 22, 2017
Not much later, it was announced that Noah will, in fact, miss the Knicks first game out of the All-Star break against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ian Begley of ESPN New York shared the information on his Twitter account.
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Begley said that Noah tweaked his hamstring in a practice before the All-Star break and that it has not healed yet. Head coach Jeff Hornacek said that Noah will miss Thursday’s game, and Willy Hernangomez will be the starting center.
Joakim Noah tweaked his hamstring during a practice before the break and will miss the Cavs game, per Hornacek. Hernangomez will start.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 22, 2017
This will be the 12th game missed by Noah this season. He has battled a number of injuries since signing with the Knicks, as he missed time during training camp because of a hamstring injury as well. The Knicks haven’t missed Noah much whenever he is sidelined, as they have a 6-5 record with him out of the lineup and 17-29 record with him in the lineup.
In his 46 games, Noah is averaging only 5.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.8 blocks in 22.1 minutes per game. There is some good things that Noah brings to the court, but it is clear that the Knicks get more production from Hernangomez and Kyle O’Quinn.
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Noah has been on the court in almost three weeks, and it is anyone’s guess as to when he will return. Durability was a huge question mark with Noah when the Knicks signed him in free agency and those doubts have been proven right.