Hand injury keeps Jalen Brunson out of Knicks’ tilt with Rockets

Three extra days without a scheduled game couldn’t get Jalen Brunson back into the Knicks’ lineup Monday night against the Rockets.

The $104 million point guard missed his second straight contest with a troublesome right hand, and he now has sat out seven times in the Knicks’ last 11 overall with two different injuries.

The first five games without Brunson earlier this month were due to a bruised left foot.

But after returning to play three games through Wednesday’s visit to Miami, he sat out Knicks’ loss the following night in Orlando with the issue on his non-shooting hand.

Brunson kept his hand inside a hoodie pocket while on the bench throughout the Magic game, but he was seen afterward wearing a plastic brace over his hand and wrist.

Neither the Knicks nor coach Tom Thibodeau have said what kind of testing Brunson has undergone, although the coach had said that Brunson practiced fully on Sunday.

The former Villanova star was listed as questionable and as a game-time decision against the Rockets.

Immanuel Quickley started again at point guard for the Knicks, who face the Heat in a key playoff positioning matchup Wednesday at MSG.