Sports

Knicks’ Dennis Smith has same injury that plagued Aaron Judge

Dennis Smith Jr. will need to come back from his injury with the force of Aaron Judge.

In a season that keeps growing weirder, Smith has been diagnosed with an oblique strain — an ailment that normally afflicts baseball players and the type of injury that sidelined Judge, the Yankees slugger, for two months last season.

It’s unknown how long Smith will be out, but he missed Thursday’s 94-82 win over the Nets at Barclays Center. The lone acquisition remaining from the Kristaps Porzingis trade, Smith is going through trying times while the 7-foot-3 Latvian is soaring in Dallas.

Smith sat at his locker before the game with his headphones on, watching a movie on his iPad with a contraption adorned with red blinking lights wrapped around his waist. It looked like a Christmas get-up, but this isn’t the type of holiday outfit Smith sought.





“It’s random,’’ Smith said of the non-basketball injury. “It was already written, though. You know what I’m saying. It’s God’s plan. It is what it is. I’ll be all right. That’s for sure.”

Smith has often turned philosophical during this rough season. He strained his back at the start of training camp and missed time. Then he left the team for two weeks after his stepmother passed away — which came the day after he was booed at the Garden for his uneven play.

“It’s tough,’’ Smith said. “That’s why it’s about faith. I was just on the phone with my big homie, talking about being there to dance in the storm. He called me, I’m on the phone smiling. He’s like, ‘You feel better than I do.’ It wasn’t easy for me to get to this place where I’m at right now. It wasn’t easy. But I had to take time out, reevaluate things, shift my focus, shift the way I think. I’m just learning how to dance in the storm, man.’’





Smith is doing no dancing this week. After he played just seven minutes in the Knicks’ loss to the Wizards on Monday night, Smith put in an extra workout and started feeling discomfort in his side. The team shut him down during Tuesday’s practice before he could worsen it.

“I had felt it getting in some work the night before [practice] at night,’’ Smith said. “I felt a little something there. The next day in practice, we were going live and I felt it again. I tried to fight through it. I felt some pain and pulling and came out of practice.”

The Knicks would not say officially when Smith will be back. Smith said he has never had this ailment before, adding it “feels like pulling at the side of my abdomen.”





“We definitely eliminated the chance of reaggravating it,’’ Smith said. “That’s what we were trying to do. I’m not sure [when I’ll be back]. I usually bounce back from stuff pretty quick. I can’t really say.”

Interim coach Mike Miller is in the dark on Smith’s return date.

“He pulled something in his oblique while he was playing,’’ Miller said. “It wasn’t a collision. It was just some kind of movement when he did something, it pulled something. It’s hard to say right now. We’ll just have to see. I saw when we did it. He’s been testing it and going through treatment as best he can. We’ll just have to see day-to-day how he feels.”

After missing three straight games this month (one with a migraine, two on coach’s decisions), Smith came on with some nice stints, getting into the paint as Miller prefers.





For the near future, Miller’s point-guard rotation is down to two — with starter Elfrid Payton and demoted Frank Ntilikina. The Knicks also called up two-way G-Leaguer Kadeem Allen, whom Miller coached in Westchester last season.

In one of the highlights of the win, Frank Ntilikina tossed a high alley-oop lob for center Mitchell Robinson, who rammed it in with extreme force, giving the crowd, featuring one-third Knicks fans, a thrill. Robinson scored 10 points with 10 rebounds.

“I didn’t think he’d throw it but he did,’’ Robinson said. “I had to make him look good. He had a clean lane. But he threw it. I like it. I got a bucket, he got an assist. A connection.’’

Wayne Ellington, who missed a 10th straight game with an Achilles strain, told The Post he may be back for Saturday’s game in Washington.

The Knicks will practice at Georgetown on Friday — an itinerary set up by former coach David Fizdale who had restored relations with Patrick Ewing, the Knicks legend and Georgetown head coach.

Miller raved about the recent play of Damyean Dotson, who led a comeback Monday with 19 points.

“He comes in with great energy,’’ Miller said. “He’s been really consistent with that. He carries the threat of shooting it from range. He’s shot the ball well when we’ve needed it. Particularly in that stretch where we got ourselves back in the game. Defensively he’s gotten better. You can see his improvement. Your looking at a guy who didn’t really have an offseason to work on things. He’s had to do his work as the season goes which is not always easy. So I would commend him that he’s improved on the defensive side.’’





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