Injury Update: Julius Randle still is not close to returning for the New York Knicks

Julius Randle who has been out since Jan. 27 with a shoulder dislocation is still not close to returning. He has recently began ramping up in "controlled contact situations" but has not progressed to any scrimmaging and is still considered to be on a week-to-week basis.

Since Randle has been out the Knicks have not been the same team going just 10-10 without him. During that time they have also been without OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson for some of those games as well. However they have found their groove as of late winning five of their last seven games. They were 30-17 before Randle went down and are currently 40-27. With just 15 games remaining they are currently the fourth seed and are two games out of the third seed, however they are only a half a game above the fifth seed. The Knicks do not want to fall out of the top four seeds and loose home-court advantage for the first round. They absolutely do not want to fall into the play-in games as well and are only three games above the Seventh seed Miami Heat.

With Randle still not close to returning and is still being considered week-to-week with only 15 games left, Randle will probably not return until the playoffs. This news is definitely not what New York fans want to hear however going into a playoffs with a healthy Randle is better than rushing him back to early and risk re-injury his shoulder. I would suspect the Knicks to take it slow with Randle with the hopes of him returning for the start of the playoffs. If he is unable to be available for the start of the playoffs it will be crucial for New York to secure a top four seed to have the home-court advantage. With that being said these last 15 games will be crucial for New York for their hopes of a deep playoff run

The Knicks will look to make it four games in a row when they travel to San Francisco to take on the Golden State Warriors on Monday March 18th at 10:00 PM EST. on ESPN. This will be the third game in their four game road trip. The Knicks still have a hard road to get through before the playoffs with tough games against Denver, Oklahoma City, Miami, Sacramento, Milwaukee, and Boston with hopes of keeping a top four seed come playoffs.