Injured Karl-Anthony Towns sitting out vs. 76ers opens door for Knicks rookies first start

With Karl-Anthony Towns unable to play Wednesday night, rookie center Ariel Hukporti made the first start of his NBA career.Towns had been listed as questionable for the home game against the Sixers with recurring knee soreness, but he was ruled out shortly before tipoff.The All-Star center appeared to tweak his knee in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss in Boston, but he returned to the game after a brief time in the locker room.With Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) still needing at least one more game of ramping up in practice before potentially making his season debut later this week, Tom Thibodeau turned to the 22-year-old Hukporti in the middle against the Sixers.The 7-foot Hukporti has shown flashes of impactful play at both ends of the floor in 24 appearances off the bench this season,The Knicks had moved another reserve big man, Jericho Sims, at the trade deadline earlier this month.Former Knicks guard Quentin Grimes already is on his third team since he was dealt to Detroit by the Knicks before last year’s trade deadline.The former first-round pick also went from the Mavericks to the Sixers at this year’s deadline.

Grimes entered the game averaging 14.9 points in his first seven appearances with the Sixers.“Great person.Hard worker.

Strong on both sides of the ball.I think he’s a terrific player,” Thibodeau said.

“He had some injuries that probably slowed him down a little bit, but a terrific player.”Sixers coach Nick Nurse has used Grimes at times at point guard, something he did not play during his three seasons in New York.Joel Embiid (knee) remained out for the Sixers, who also were without veteran guards Kyle Lowry (hip) and Eric Gordon, who underwent wrist surgery on Tuesday....