Mitchell Robinson Comes in Clutch, Offers Statement in New York Knicks Return

Offered his most extensive on-court work since returning from injury, Mitchell Robinson played a major role in the New York Knicks' clinch of homecourt.

You've heard of "Hack-a-Shaq" so Mitchell Robinson will do his utmost to ensure that "Pick-the-Knick" will never become mainstream.

Robinson's Friday night, which hosted a key 111-107 New York Knicks victory over the Brooklyn Nets, was the busiest he's had in months: the longest-tenured Knick played 25 minutes, the longest stint he's been offered since missing 50 games with an ankle injury. Robinson scored a season-best 15 points as New York (49-32) officially sealed its homecourt fate in the opening round of the upcoming NBA Playoffs.

“I feel like I’m headed in the right direction," Robinson said in the aftermath, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. "(There are) a couple of things I still have to work on. Conditioning is the biggest one, timing, stuff like that.”

Apr 12, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) rebounds

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

On a night where the Knicks kept Isaiah Hartenstein out of a back-to-back, Robinson played the entire fourth quarter. Brooklyn took note as it narrowed an 11-point lead to one possession in the final stanzas, making sure Robinson had the ball when they started fouling in an attempt to buy extra possessions and play spoiler to their cross-borough rivals.

For everything Robinson accomplished prior to his injury, free throws continued to be an issue. Perhaps no one was expecting Robinson, one of the few traditional centers left in the NBA, to be perfect at the line, but his 38.7 percent success rate entering Friday night was the worst mark of his career.

But Robinson made sure the Nets' gambit didn't pay off: the big man hit 5-of-8 over the final four minutes before Jalen Brunson capped off a 30-point evening by scoring each of the last eight Manhattan tallies. Robinson said he made free throw shooting one of the key tenets of his rehab and he's sinking just under 64 percent over the last four games, all Knick victories.

“(Tonight) felt great," Robinson said per Botte. “Me missing all the games and that, I’ve been focusing on my free throws. It just paid off tonight."

Robinson now figures to be a unique factor off the metropolitan bench with their playoff run looming. Hartenstein appears destined to remain in the starting role he took over while Robinson rehabbed while Jericho Sims got the opening nod on Friday.

“Mitch makes plays that no one else can just in terms of impacting shots, pick and roll coverage. So I thought he was terrific,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Botte. “Mitch can cover a lot of ground and I thought that was huge for us.”

Time will tell how much more time Robinson gets, but he should get a sizable test on Sunday when the Knicks wrap up their regular season against the Chicago Bulls (1 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).