The Knicks have gone from hype to horror; from crossovers to crossed fingers.
Julius Randle will miss his first game of the season Monday in Charlotte after dislocating his right shoulder Saturday, but there was no further update on Randle’s condition Sunday.
Initial X-rays a day earlier showed the dislocation, and Randle was expected to undergo an MRI exam on Saturday night.
The outcomes are usually not yet publicly known, though coach Tom Thibodeau acknowledged after the win over the Heat he was “very” concerned.
The most important scare of the team’s season — coming at a degree when the Knicks are playing their best basketball of the season — has threatened to flatten the hopes of a team that has won 12 of 14 since OG Anunoby arrived.
Based on a few orthopedic surgeons who haven’t evaluated Randle, the best-case scenario for Randle could be a two- or three-week absence, and the worst case could be surgery that likely would end his season.
Dr. Dennis DeBernardis, who focuses on shoulder and elbow surgery at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute in Manhattan and Jersey City, said the X-rays would have shown whether the ball was still out of its socket and might indicate if there may be bone damage.
The MRI would have provided a more sensitive take a look at the bone and shown the severity of injury to the labrum, which is the soft tissue that surrounds the socket.
With dislocations, there is sort of all the time some amount of injury to the labrum.
If only a small portion of the labrum is broken, treating the injury without surgery could be an choice to expedite Randle’s return.
“Let’s say they recommend no surgery,” DeBernardis said over the phone. “Then he can come back to playing once he has full range of motion, full strength and no pain. Those are the key criteria.
“When you try this, you possibly can come back to play. … Basically, that might be as much as two to a few weeks. That might be as much as six to eight weeks. Is dependent upon how briskly he progresses.”
Dr. Clint Soppe, whose specialties at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles include sports medicine and shoulder injuries and who’s an orthopedic consultant for the LA Galaxy, pointed to Dwyane Wade’s 2006-07 season.
The then-Heat star dislocated his left shoulder on Feb. 21, 2007, but elected to rehab his shoulder and delay surgery until after the campaign.
He missed 23 games over 6 ¹/₂ weeks but returned successfully, then underwent surgery after a playoff run.
On this best-case, no-surgery scenario for Randle, there could be concerns.
Once a primary dislocation occurs, individuals are more susceptible to re-dislocation. Randle — about as physical a player because the NBA has — might be putting himself in harm’s way.
“Once you damage that soft tissue, you’re in danger to dislocate it again,” DeBernardis said. “Especially when you are young like he’s; when you play an aggressive, overhead sport, so we will consider basketball an overhead sport because he shoots in that position.”
It is feasible doctors recommend surgery to repair soft-tissue damage.
Such a determination would mean Randle would miss several months and potentially the remaining of the season.
A “really quick recovery” from surgery, DeBernardis said, could be under three months, but that will be unusual.
More likely, Soppe said, could be a four- to six-month timetable.
There are about 2 ¹/₂ months left within the regular season.
There may be a slight silver lining that Randle, a lefty, dislocated his right shoulder, but he still needs full motion in each arms.
“I believe it’s probably a little bit bit higher [than the left shoulder],” Soppe said. “However it’s still basketball. You’re going for rebounds.”
One other silver lining: “It’s very unusual” that labrum surgery could be a career-ender, DeBernardis said. The overwhelming majority of players are capable of bounce back.
But not immediately.
Randle went down with 4 ¹/₂ minutes left in a game the Knicks led by 17.
The bull of a forward had bullied his solution to the ring as Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. attempted to take a charge.
Randle went up, then tried to cushion his fall by protruding his right palm on his way down.
The remaining of his 250-pound body forced his right arm out, dislocating his shoulder.
Randle — “a warrior,” as Thibodeau said — didn’t fight to stay in the sport, as a substitute trudging immediately to the locker room.
In an era of load management, Randle had suited up in every game this season despite an arthroscopic procedure on his left ankle in early June, which clearly bothered him at the beginning of the campaign.
He played all but the ultimate five games of last season, when he took a brief breather to rest his ankle to permit him to be ready for the playoffs.
