Mitchell Robinson’s Status Remains Uncertain
Each game, there’s still doubt surrounding Mitchell Robinson’s availability.
He sat out Monday night’s 119-102 win against the Wizards at Madison Square Garden due to a lingering left ankle injury, a concern he’s faced since the season began. In his absence, Coach Mike Brown started Landry Shamet, who contributed 11 points.
This was the Knicks’ first back-to-back game of the season after their victory over the Bulls the previous day. Clearly, Robinson isn’t quite prepared to take on the regular game schedule.
So far this season, Robinson has only accumulated 33 minutes of play across seven games.
When asked on Monday if Robinson would be able to manage consecutive games this year, Coach Brown didn’t provide a clear answer but noted that Robinson is indeed under a playing time restriction.
“It’s part of his load management,” Brown explained. “I’m going to stick with this throughout the year. Regardless of what I hear, I’ll continue to do it.”
In Sunday’s game, Robinson played for 13 minutes. While he didn’t score, he did grab five rebounds, four of which were offensive. He briefly left the court after a rough landing on his right ankle in the third quarter but returned quickly. The Knicks are particularly careful with his left ankle, which he had surgery on about a year and a half ago, leading to him missing much of the previous season.
On Friday, Robinson made his season debut in a loss to the Bulls, recording four points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Josh Hart was initially doubtful for Monday due to a left ankle sprain but ended up playing effectively, scoring 12 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists. His injury struggles this season have been significant, missing the opening game due to lower back spasms and discussing nerve damage in his shooting hand’s ring finger.
“It’s frustrating,” Hart expressed regarding his injury woes. “How many months has it been since I’ve been hit or hurt? Sometimes, it can be a bit annoying, but that’s just part of the game.”
Gershon Yabusele, who had seen only five minutes in the prior two games and was on the cusp of the rotation, played 14 minutes on Monday and gathered three rebounds. However, he failed to convert any of his shots, including from three-point range.
“Yabu did a great job. There are plenty of things that won’t show up on the stat sheet,” remarked Karl-Anthony Towns. “He made a positive impact on the game.”
