Knicks' Mitchell Robinson Impresses in Long-Awaited Return

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson, the New York Knicks missed more than you would know.

Mitchell Robinson made his season debut for the New York Knicks on Friday night in Memphis, taking the floor for his seventh season in blue and orange. The game featured Robinson's first minutes of the 2024-25 season after ankle issues sidelined him for the first four-plus months.

The tenured center made the most of his time, putting up six points and five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench as the Knicks staved off the Memphis Grizzlies by a 114-113 final.

"The first game back, for the amount of time he's been out, I thought it was really, really good." Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Robinson's work, per the Associated Press. "We've been seeing it in practice too. So this is the next step."

It might be a small step for Robinson but a giant leap for the Knicks: New York's defense has severely suffered with Robinson sidelined, and his Friday entry allowed them to steal a gritty win from the Grizzlies, the current runner-up in the Western Conference standings. Robinson's immediate impact was on display through a team-best plus-11 on the scoreboard over his dozen minutes.

Even though Robinson was on a strict, if not wholly expected, minutes restriction, his entries proved precious: Robinson was taken on and off the floor as the Knicks (39-20) rotated between defending and chasing Memphis, gaining entry on defense when Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby's clutch antics from deep gave them late leads.

Robinson, one of the few Knicks to survive all five seasons of the Thibodeau era, was pleased to see he left a lasting impression on his fellow metropolitan staple.

“He trusts me, you know? Missing 10 months and to put me in a big spot, position right there to get a stop or whatever, means a lot,” Robinson said of Thibodeau's faith in him, per Phillip Martinez of SNY. “[It] shows that he trusts me a lot, still rocks with me.”

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