Derrick Rose suffered back spasms again in their game against the Phoenix Suns and did not return. Rose took a hard fall in the first quarter after he drove to the basket against the Suns' Eric Bledsoe.
Rose first experienced back spasms after their game against the Miami Heat which caused him to miss two games. He returned with the Knicks in their game against the Los Angeles Lakers, scored 25 points in 34 minutes and didn't look like anything was bothering him.
Rose played nine minutes against the Suns and missed all of his six shot attempts before he got hurt. This is the second time he will be sidelined with back spasms and the Knicks will likely force him to rest more games to avoid it from worsening.
"My back got tight and I couldn't move," Rose said. If there's anything to be learned from Rose's injury history, it's that one injury leads to another. Right now there's no point in rushing his return.
When Rose went down, the Knicks' backup guards just couldn't fill the gap he left. Brandon Jennings, Ron Baker, and Justin Holiday couldn't stop Bledsoe. Bledsoe took over the game for the Suns in the fourth quarter and overtime and finished the game with 31 points in their 113-111 victory.
The bright spots for the Knicks were Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quinn. Porzingis finished with a game-high 34 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks while O'Quinn had a solid double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Porzingis was unstoppable all game long and showed a lot of fight, including a real fight. He got tangled up with Suns' rookie Marquese Chriss in the third quarter. Chriss shoved Porzingis and Porzingis quickly stood up and shove Chriss back.
After that play, Porzingis got all fired up and carried the Knicks on his shoulders. "It seemed to fire him up," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. "He had a little more activity after that," he added.
Carmelo Anthony had an off night and couldn't carry the Knicks when Porzings fouled out in overtime. He had 13 points, six rebounds, and five assists but shot just 3-15 from the field.