PHILADELPHIA — Mitchell Robinson did not practice Saturday after re-injuring his surgically repaired ankle, but Tom Thibodeau wasn’t ready to rule the center out of Sunday’s Game 4 just yet.
“Realistically, he’ll warm up tomorrow and see how he’s doing,” the coach said.
Robinson, who missed 50 regular-season games with a fractured left ankle, appeared to suffer the injury while guarding Joel Embiid and was out of Thursday’s game with a walking boot.
It’s unclear when exactly Robinson was injured, but Embiid had multiple dirty plays — pulling Robinson off the ground, kicking Robinson in the groin after a jumper, and kicking Robinson after a borderline flop. I fell on my foot.
If Robinson is unable to play, the Knicks could use a two-center rotation of Isaiah Hartenstein and Precious Achiuwa, but the latter is smaller than Embiid.
Thibodeau also mentioned Jericho Sims as a possibility.
Sims has played in just two games since March 27th.
“That was one of the great things about our team all year. Every time one guy went out, another came in,” Thibodeau said. “So, Precious played well for us. Jericho played well for us. The next guy comes in there and brings in a work team. I mean, this is a team, everybody is necessary.”
With Robinson sidelined for the second half of Thursday’s loss, Achiuwa played well in the final 10 minutes, but also drew three quick fouls.
“First and foremost, we hope we have Mitch. We expect Mitch to play,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “But if he didn’t do that, it would have been like that all year. You have Precious, you have Jericho, and they were ready all season.
“So, in the next-man-up mentality, with Mitch missing over 50 games, we got a two-seed. So I expect him to play. I hope he does, but if he doesn’t play, we know the next guy.”
