TORONTO — While the Knicks’ long wait to acquire Mitchell Robinson is over, last week continued to wipe out undermanned lottery teams.
Robinson played his first game in more than three months, and the Knicks had their highest-scoring game of the season, defeating the tumultuous Raptors 145-101 at Scotiabank Arena.
Miles McBride scored a season-high 45 points in the first quarter, making 6 of 29 3-pointers (9 of 9 overall) as the Knicks (44-28) jumped over the Cavaliers in the standings. They advanced to the long-awaited 3rd place playoffs. Eastern Conference position.
For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson had 26 points and seven assists, and former Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa had 19 points and 13 rebounds, including a season-high 80 points in the first half.
Robinson, the team’s starting center and defensive anchor, also returned to uniform for the first time since Dec. 8.
He had eight points and two rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench, leaving Isaiah Hartenstein (15 points) in the starting five for the time being.
Robinson, 25, had missed 50 consecutive games with a left ankle injury that required surgery.
“It’s a long layoff, so we want him to start the next process, the next step for him,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “I think each player is unique and brings different strengths to the team.
“We know about Mitch.” [it’s] Shot blocking, rim protection, pick-and-roll defense, and rim pressure. And we think his offensive rebounding is clearly the best in the league. So all of these things are selfless things that help make the team better. So we’re happy to have him back. ”
Robinson has been practicing with the Knicks for the past week and was leading the NBA in offensive rebounds with 5.3 per game at the time of the injury.
And his overall average on the boards was 10.3, a career high.
Still, Hartenstein played well in Robinson’s absence, posting 8.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game compared to his past 39 starts.
But Hartenstein, who scored 15 points, has also been limited in minutes since the All-Star break as he deals with a lingering Achilles injury, averaging 22.6 minutes per game in the past 16 games.
Thibodeau hasn’t fully committed to a center rotation with Robinson’s return, but last week he made Hartenstein the starter and staggered his playing time, allowing the rest of the regular starting unit to get time on the floor with Robinson. suggested the possibility.
Achiuwa, Josh Hart and Jericho Sims have expanded their roles amid a rash of injuries to the team, and the Knicks, who started Wednesday’s game, are tied with the Hawks for offensive rebounds on the season with 12.8 points per game.
Two-time All-Star Julius Randle (shoulder) and former Raptors forward OG Anunoby (elbow) are out for the Knicks, who have 10 games left in the regular season, which begins Friday night in San Antonio.
The Raptors, who have lost 12 straight games, were without former Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley (for personal reasons), as well as All-Star wings Scottie Barnes and Jacob Poeltl.
There was another scary moment for Toronto. Winger Ochai Agbaji suffered a hip contusion when he crashed hard to the floor on a foul by McBride midway through the first quarter and had to be helped to the locker room.
A game after DiVincenzo set a franchise record with 11 3-pointers against the Pistons, McBride went down on 6-of-8 long range shots from beyond the arc in the first 12 minutes.
This tied John Starks and Quentin Richardson for the franchise record for a single quarter.
Robinson entered the game with 5 minutes and 8 seconds remaining and scored four points in the first six minutes.
The Knicks led 45-33 in the first game, extended their lead to 21 points in the second, and held an 80-59 advantage going into intermission.
This marked the second-highest first-half scoring in franchise history, one point shy of the record set in March of last season against the Nets.
For reference, the Knicks were held to 73 points after losing to the 76ers just two weeks ago.
