9 months, three weeks and in the future.
That’s how a lot time handed between Knicks heart Mitchell Robinson’s last recreation final 12 months and his first recreation this season.
Robinson wanted 298 days to work his manner again from the left ankle harm that abruptly ended his 2024 postseason, required surgical procedure and price him the primary 58 video games of the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
“It’s a lot of emotions that go on,” Robinson recalled Wednesday forward of Recreation 5 in Boston. “Ups and downs. Really, the hard part is trying to stay afloat, trying to stay focused, because you can’t really do too much when you’re injured.”
However Robinson’s rigorous rehab is paying off when it issues most.
Robinson has been a game-wrecker in these NBA playoffs, delivering physicality, relentless rebounding and rim safety which have given the Knicks a much-needed edge.
By way of 4 video games of their second-round sequence towards the Boston Celtics, the 7-foot Robinson boasted a series-best level differential of +35, that means the Knicks had outscored Boston by 35 factors with Robinson on the courtroom.
No different Knick had a plus/minus higher than +5, and none of their starters had even a constructive level differential.
But the Knicks led the sequence 3-1.
“He’s special, man,” fellow heart Karl-Anthony Cities stated of Robinson after Recreation 4. “Whenever you’re taking part in towards him, you perceive what he brings to the group, and if you’re taking part in as one in all his teammates, you see much more the magnitude, the affect he has on the sport.
“Whether it was guarding guards, guarding their big men, or also getting big rebounds, alley-oops, timely baskets, he was able to do it all.”
Making Robinson’s level differential all of the extra unimaginable is the actual fact he shot simply 7-of-23 on free-throw makes an attempt by these 4 video games.
The Celtics repeatedly resorted to deliberately fouling Robinson, partly as a result of the “Hack-a-Mitch” technique exploited his free-throw-shooting deficiencies, but additionally as a result of it compelled Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to think about eradicating him from the sport.
“He’s a huge factor to what they do, and I’m going to find ways to negate that,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stated after Recreation 2.
The Celtics swept their 4 video games towards the Knicks within the common season, however Robinson missed all however one in all them.
Robinson, 27, entered Wednesday averaging 4.8 factors and seven.8 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per recreation within the sequence towards the Celtics, and he was but to document a block.
However conventional counting stats didn’t inform the total story.
With the rating tied in Recreation 1, Robinson switched onto Jayson Tatum and contested a would-be-game-winning 3-point try within the waning seconds of regulation. Tatum missed, the sport went to extra time, and the Knicks gained 108-105.
In Recreation 2, with the Knicks clinging to a 91-90 lead, Robinson once more switched onto Tatum on Boston’s last possession and compelled the Celtics star to his left, the place Mikal Bridges met him for a game-sealing steal.
And within the Knicks’ 121-113 win in Recreation 4, Robinson corralled 5 offensive rebounds, picked up two assists and accomplished a pair of alley-oop dunks.
“It’s the pressure he’s putting on the rim, and then the threat of the offensive rebounds and the extra possessions,” Thibodeau stated after Recreation 4.
“Having that pressure there is huge for our team. There’s not really a stat for that, but what it does is it creates advantages for us.”
Robinson underwent an preliminary surgical procedure for a stress fracture in his left ankle in December 2023, forcing him to overlook greater than three months final season.
He returned earlier than the playoffs however was shut down once more after Recreation 1 within the second spherical towards the Indiana Pacers. Robinson underwent a second surgical procedure for a stress fracture in that left ankle final Might.
Throughout the offseason, it turned clear Robinson wouldn’t be prepared for the beginning of the 2024-25 common season. About three weeks earlier than the season, the Knicks traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to amass Cities in a blockbuster cope with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Amid his extended rehab, Robinson turned the topic of commerce rumors main as much as February’s deadline.
However the Knicks stored him — and now they’re reaping the advantages.
“We wanted him back fully healthy,” level guard Jalen Brunson stated.
“He was working his tail off to get back. Obviously, we love what he does, but him having his joy and being back and being around and contributing, that’s what we were most happy to see.”
Robinson made his season debut on Feb. 28 and appeared in 17 video games within the common season, primarily off of the bench.
He’s continued to function as a key reserve within the playoffs.
“For me now, it’s [important to] keep my body fresh with the rehab, treatment and stuff like that,” Robinson stated. “That’s kind of what I’ve been focusing on a little more, so I could be fresh.”
Now in his seventh season, Robinson is the longest-tenured Knick. The 2018 second-round choose endured three shedding seasons in his first 4 years.
However this group has an opportunity to do one thing the Knicks haven’t in a quarter-century — advance to the NBA Finals.
And Robinson is on the heart of it.
“It feels good to be in this position that we are in right now, especially because I’ve been here seven years,” Robinson stated. “To get to see that and experience that is great.”
