The Knicks are almost 10 factors higher per 100 possessions when Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Cities share the ground. That’s not only a wrinkle — it’s a possible weapon.
However the weapon hasn’t been absolutely unsheathed.
The seven-foot duo — whose measurement and talent may present a key edge in New York’s first-round playoff collection in opposition to the Detroit Pistons — logged simply 47 minutes collectively over 10 video games within the common season.
“It’s been limited,” head coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned after follow on the Knicks’ Tarrytown coaching facility on Wednesday. “So it’s a small sample size. It’s been good because of the size.”
This was the imaginative and prescient. When the Knicks swung a blockbuster deal to amass Cities from Minnesota — sending out Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — the thought was to deploy Cities at energy ahead subsequent to Robinson on the 5. However Robinson’s restoration from ankle surgical procedure prolonged longer than anticipated, and the pairing remained theoretical till late February.
Now it’s actual — and Robinson is again to anchoring the paint.
He closed the common season with a productive stretch, averaging seven factors, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals over his closing 4 video games, together with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in an April 1 win over the Sixers.
“The thing is: That wasn’t easy to be out the amount of time that he was out. I think he played in 17 games,” Thibodeau mentioned. “So the best way it unfolded, we had a heavy dose of again to backs when he got here again, so that basically restricted the period of time that he may play, too.
“I like where he is right now.”
With Robinson and Cities on the ground, the Knicks challenge to supersize any lineup alongside the 6-foot-1 Jalen Brunson with two seven-footers to assist deter drivers from the paint.
Thibodeau mentioned use of the dual-big lineup shall be matchup-driven. The Pistons have solely performed their two facilities — Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart — collectively eight minutes over 9 video games this season.
However they’ve lengthy, athletic and bodily wings, from Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. to Ausar Thompson.
Plus the Knicks are outscoring opponents by 9.2 factors per 100 possessions when Cities and Robinson share the ground. The offensive ranking in these minutes? A blistering 128. The defensive ranking? 118.8.
Once more, a small pattern measurement with promising outcomes.
“I think they play well with each other,” mentioned OG Anunoby. “They complement each other very well. Just having size like that on the floor, it’s for teams to go against.”
The Knicks additionally personal a plus-28 web ranking when Mikal Bridges shares the ground with Cities and Robinson.
The one actual caveat is depth. Cities could be foul-prone. Robinson is lower than two months faraway from his season debut. Rookie Ariel Hukporti is out with a torn meniscus. Jericho Sims was dealt on the deadline.
That leaves Valuable Achiuwa as the one different true massive behind Robinson and Cities. Achiuwa averaged 9.7 factors and 6.4 rebounds in prolonged minutes over the ultimate seven common season video games.
“There’s a compilation of things that go into it, but you have Precious, as well,” mentioned Thibodeau. “Precious can give us minutes there.”
To date, what little we’ve seen has labored.
The playoffs are about exploiting benefits. And if New York wants a brand new one? It’d already be of their again pocket.
A LOT OF EXPERIENCE
This isn’t Robinson’s first harm rodeo. The Knicks’ defensive anchor has had his fair proportion of setbacks since New York chosen him thirty sixth general within the 2018 NBA Draft.
“I kept trying to come back so fast, so fast, to get back to playing and stuff like that, being young and trying to just play,” he mentioned after follow on Thursday. “Now that I actually had to take the time out and make sure I’m 100 percent. It should be fine.”
Robinson suffered a stress fracture to his left ankle in a Dec. 6, 2023 matchup in opposition to the Boston Celtics. He underwent surgical procedure and returned after a three-and-a-half-month rehab solely to undergo one other stress fracture to the identical ankle in Sport 1 of New York’s second-round playoff collection in opposition to the Indiana Pacers.
“They was trying to kill me every day in there [rehab],” he mentioned. “They was killing me every day.”
Robinson was consuming grapes as he fielded questions on the Tarrytown coaching facility on Monday. He as soon as weighed “290-something” kilos however has since minimize all the way down to the 260s.
The beginning Knicks ahead credit a change in his food regimen to the burden loss and says it exhibits in his wind on the basketball court docket.
“Yeah for sure. I just played a full quarter in one of the games. Only been back for a month and two weeks maybe,” he mentioned. “To go in and all the work that I put in to be able to do that, that just showed a lot. How much time I put the time into the conditioning and all that. After games, before games and all that.”
FOCUS ON THE MIDDY
Mikal Bridges defined why he likes the mid-range leap shot a lot after follow on Thursday.
“The more years I talk about it, the more analytics I think favor mid-range. I don’t know, I’m so confused by it,” he mentioned. “I believe it’s simply harder to get to the rim. It’s harder to get threes off, and there’s a lot of the court docket left. It’s not simply the rim and the three.
“You pay guys a lot of money to protect the rim and stuff like that, so it’s like going into their habitat, going in there while they’re waiting for you. Playing three levels, being a three-level scorer, be able to get to the rim, be able to get to the mid-range shot, and then if everything is packed up and they guard it there, or they’re all in the paint, shooting the three.”
