Knicks Have No Margin for Injury Misfortune

There are plenty of NBA teams who've been less fortunate on the injury front than the New York Knicks. They've never had to go long without their scoring lead in Jalen Brunson, who's missed just three of 39 games so far through the regular season, and he's had a deep-enough bench to ensure that most of the squad's nightly contributors are reliable-enough minute-eaters.

The few lengthy injury scares they've had to brave have revealed just how small their margin for error really is. When OG Anunoby missed a few weeks near the end of November, New York's lack of reliable defensive wings was revealed, as was their playmaking shortage upon Josh Hart's own rehab process to open the new year.

New York Knicks Guards Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart — Nov 22, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) and guard Josh Hart (3) react after a play against the Orlando Magic in the second quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

They still have as tangible a shot at winning the conference as any of their eastern neighbors, the rare contender to come back even more threatening than they were in the prior season, but if there were anything holding this iteration of the Knicks back from surpassing last years' conference finals appearance, it's their lack of a safety blanket should they lose any more high-end depth pieces.

"When Anunoby has sat out time, the Knicks have gone 2-4 against playoff-level teams (Milwaukee, Toronto, Minnesota, Miami, Orlando and Boston)," ESPN's Vincent Goodwill reported. "The Knicks would be in big trouble if Brunson or Towns were to sit out time, and the same goes for [Mitchell] Robinson, who has battled ankle injuries in his career."

Preparing for the Probable

It's only natural that the backup center is starting to draw eyes as the next-likeliest candidate to sit out for sufficient time. He's the most brittle member of the Knicks' rotation, an unfortunately nagging habit for their most important rebounders, defenders and big-game performers.

New York Knicks Center Mitchell Robinson — Dec 19, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) reacts after a dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

He's been fairly reliable ever since he missed the first week of the regular season, appearing for memorable stretches of shot-blocking and board-snagging in 27 of New York's last 35 outings. If he appears in five more outings over the entire second half of this campaign, Robinson will have played in the most games in a season that he has in three years.

Robinson is one of the NBA's elite offensive rebounders, nabbing a career-high 4.7 boards off of his teammates' misses for a career-high. And that's on a purposely-low, sub-20 minute per game workload; he's yanking 8.8 out of the air on a per-36 minute basis, his personal-best by a mile. Given his comfortability and importance in the playoffs, they need to continue playing the long game with their defensive anchor as long as they can.

"When he, Brunson and [Miles] McBride are on the court together, the Knicks gash teams, outscoring them by 18.1 points per 100 possessions," Goodwill wrote. "But depending on Robinson to play big minutes as the mileage piles up is a big bet, as the often unforgiving playoff schedule could take its toll on Robinson's body."

The Knicks understand as well as anybody that simply finding someone to fill in for Robinson isn't simple, let alone realistic. With their top-heavy rotation offering minimal room for error, they'll have to continue keeping cautious with one of their most important role-playing contributors.

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