Knicks point guard Cam Payne exits early with ankle sprain

The Knicks are running out of point guards.

Cam Payne, who was starting his third straight game with Jalen Brunson (ankle) and Miles McBride (groin) both sidelined, exited the 126-113 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden with a right ankle sprain.

Payne had sparked a hot Knicks start offensively, scoring 15 points before his injury.

It left rookie Tyler Kolek as the only healthy true point guard available.

He played 19 minutes — tied for a season high — and recorded seven assists, though he did not score.

“You just gotta be ready to go when your number is called,” Kolek said. “You don’t wish for these circumstances, for guys to get hurt. You always wish for opportunity, but you don’t want to see it come at the expense of other guys. Just gotta be a professional and be ready to go no matter what my role is, whether I’m out there starting or out there cheering my guys from the bench.”

Little-used Delon Wright also saw more action as a result of the injuries, playing 12 minutes — his most since the Knicks acquired him from the Bucks ahead of the trade deadline.

He did not score and had three assists in the loss.

“Just next guy get in there,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought Tyler played well in the first half. And then Delon, who’s the next guy, get in and get the job done. That’s a big part of your approach, your team’s approach. I think there’s going to be adversity. You have to be mentally tough. You have to be able to get through that. You have to stay disciplined.

“I knew it would be a challenge. [The Clippers are] playing really well. They’re fresh, two days of rest. I knew we would have to be at our best. We’re more than capable of getting that done.”

Mitchell Robinson returned Wednesday after missing Tuesday’s win over the Mavericks, as he’s not yet playing back-to-backs since returning from his foot injury.

He played just 13 minutes, though, and did not score. He had two rebounds and an assist.

“I don’t get wrapped up in his minutes, it’s how the team is functioning,” Thibodeau said. “And that’s the big thing. It’s not a ‘he’s gonna play this amount of minutes.’ … It’s who do they have on the floor? And they were playing [Ben] Simmons at the five when he was in there, so it was a little different matchup-wise. And they had [Nic] Batum. You’re looking at the matchups, you’re looking at what’s going on in the game.”