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Obi Toppin, NBA Slam Dunk Contest Winner, Sidelined 2-3 Weeks

New York Knicks frontwards Obi Toppin, the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Champion, will misfire at to the lowest degree two to III weeks with a fractured kneecap.

Toppin suffered the compensate kneecap trauma during the Knicks victory over the battle of Atlanta Hawks on Midweek nighttime at Madison Square Garden. He scored trinity points in octet proceedings of action, but exited the gritty ahead of time and ne'er returned.

On Thursday, team up doctors diagnosed Toppin with a non-displaced fracture in his right hand fibula head.

The Knicks won deuce games inwards a row to improve to 12-13 this flavour as the last-place team in the Atlantic Division. If the harden ended today, the Knicks could measure up for the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament as the ninth-place team.

The Knicks are long shots to win the 2022-23 NBA title at +30000 odds, according to DraftKings. In Atlantic Ocean Division odds, the Knicks are +25000 to win the partition for the first of all clip since 2012-13.

Obi Toppin sustained a non-displaced crack inwards his right wing fibula lead during last night’s spirited against Atlanta. He testament be revaluated inwards 2-3 weeks.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) December 8, 2022

Fan-Favorite Toppin Sidelined Rest of 2022

Toppin is a valuable member of the Knicks’ high-energy secondment unit, along with Immanuel Quickley, which, at times, played significantly break than the starting five. That’s practically to the alarm of faithful fans at Madison Square Garden. Toppin grew up inward Brooklyn, and played his mellow school day clod in the suburban townsfolk of Ossining, New York.

In 25 games off the bench this season, Toppin averaged 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He worked on his 3-point jibe inward the off-season, and improved to 35% from beyond the arc, compared to 30% in his first-class honours degree ii seasons.

Last year, fans caught a glimpse of what Toppin could do if he were the starting power forrad instead of Julius Randle. When Randle missed the net two weeks of the time of year with an injury, Toppin played the topper extend of his vocation averaging 20.3 points, 7 rebounds, and threesome assists in 10 games as a starter.

The Knicks selected Toppin with the #8 pickaxe in the 2020 NBA Draft. Toppin was an All-American at Dayton, averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He was also named the Atlantic-10 Player of the Year inward the 2019-20 season.

Toppin led Dayton to a 29-2 put down and a #3 national ranking during his sophomore season. Dayton ne'er got a chance to compete in a national championship after the NCAA canceled the 2020 Mar Madness tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last season, Toppin made a public figure for himself with his high-flying acrobatics during the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest.

Desperate Thibs Shuffling the Deck

Last month, on that point was no shortage of rumors swirling around Gotham that suggested the Knicks were on the verge of firing caput train Uncle Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks embarked on a five-game road trip against top out teams inwards the horse opera Conference under the assumption that the squad could homecoming to New House of York without their lead coach. With Thibodeau inwards the raging seat, the Knicks went 3-2 on that route stumble and pulled even out with a 9-9 record, which saved Thibodeau’s task through the ending of 2022.

The Knicks struggled since the finish of that western sandwich vacillation past losing four out of their next cinque games. Thibodeau shuffled his starting lineup and bench rotary motion to spark the team. For a back December inwards a row, Thibodeau benched a starting backcourt player. Last year, Kemba Alice Malsenior Walker was demoted to the remnant of the bench. This season, Thibodeau benched struggling shot guard Evan Fournier (6.9 ppg). Quentin Grimes (6.8 ppg), who excelled for the Knicks during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, replaced Fournier inward the starting lineup.

During the lowest week, Cam River Reddish (8.4 ppg) lost his patch in the revolution inward favor of rarely-used Miles McBride (1.8 ppg). Big adult male Jericho Sims (4.5 ppg, 4.6 rebounds) also saw his playing time belittle after he strike down come out of the honest graces of Thibodeau.

With Toppin out, there’s a chance that Reddish or Sims returns to the rotation sour the bench. Otherwise, starting small frontward RJ Barrett could reckon to a greater extent time with the secondly social unit as the force forward.

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