Knicks Need Jalen Brunson to Return to Rebuild Chemistry for NBA Playoffs Amid Rumors

The New York Knicks are headed back to the NBA Playoffs and are one of the teams with a legitimate shot to come out of the Eastern Conference and win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

They currently sit as the No. 3 seed and should remain in the spot barring collapse over the final games of the regular season. They have accomplished that feat despite a late-season sprained ankle suffered by their star player, Jalen Brunson, in a March 5 showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brunson has missed 10 games since suffering the injury but provided a positive update on his podcast, The Roommates Show, revealing that he has been walking without a boot, working two times a day, and feeling good.

Even more positive is a report from Ian Begley of SNY that he may see the court again before the postseason. He wrote, "Based on what I heard earlier this week, things were trending toward Brunson being able to play a handful of games before the end of the regular season."

This is, of course, based on the idea that there are no setbacks and Brunson is 100 percent healthy.

Potentially getting him back on court is something the Knicks desperately need, not only because the team is just 6-5 without him, but because the last thing the team needs is to head into the postseason with on-court chemistry anything but firing on all cylinders.

We have seen it across sports, where a high-seeded team with superstars across the board, limps into the postseason without the chemistry that got them there at a high and loses in the first round, upset by a team that was not as talented by had momentum and chemistry on their side.

If the Playoffs started today, it would see the No. 3 Knicks battle the No. 6 Bucks and while New York took care of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. Saturday, 116-107 on the strength of OG Anunoby's 31 points, that is not a match-up the Knicks realistically want to draw without a full slate gelling and playing at its highest level.

Assuming he is healthy, getting Brunson back for games against the Cavaliers, Pistons, Celtics and Nets would be huge for rebuilding chemistry, getting everyone back and familiar with playing with each other, and giving the team the momentum it needs entering a postseason in which there will be plenty of scrutiny to go around if the team in the Big Apple does not make a deep run given the talent on the roster and all that it accomplished in this season.