Another injury has bitten the New York Knicks.
Mitchell Robinson is dealing with a “stress injury” in his left ankle and will be out for at least six to eight weeks, the team announced Tuesday. He will not return this season.
The longtime Knicks center, who appeared hobbled during Game 1 of New York’s second-round series against the Indiana Pacers, a 121-117 victory, underwent surgery on the same ankle in early December. He’s been in and out of the lineup ever since, recently spraining himself during a first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Robinson contacted the medical team after Tuesday’s practice and underwent tests late in the afternoon that showed a stress injury, a league source said. The source said the current plan was to avoid surgery and instead rehabilitate the injury.
Robinson’s absence puts more pressure on the group’s starting center, Isaiah Hartenstein, who joined the first unit when Robinson was first injured in December. Precious Achiuwa, who replaced Robinson during past injuries, will once again serve as the backup center.
Robinson was in the midst of a career season before suffering his first ankle injury over the winter, making his case for his first all-defensive appearance as he led the NBA in every offensive rebounding statistic imaginable. His dominance in the paint has become part of the Knicks’ identity. Dribblers couldn’t get to the rim, whether because he was deterring shots or stopping pick-and-rolls, and they couldn’t stop him from getting to the stripe either.
The Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA. With Robinson, it goes to another level.
Now, an unfortunate trend is dealing one final blow.
Robinson’s ankle injuries continue to appear. He first injured his left ankle on December 8 during a game against the Boston Celtics. He underwent x-rays at halftime and doctors cleared him to return. But he only played the first four minutes of the third quarter, battling obvious discomfort, before exiting for good. He had surgery a few days later.
The concern upon his return on March 27 was his conditioning. Robinson was unable to run and jump most of the time, so the Knicks put him on a strict minutes restriction for his first eight games. In the ninth, the penultimate game of the regular season, he ran for 25 minutes, the most he had played at the time in more than four months.
In the next game, Robinson had to sit out the second half due to a further worsening of his ankle. This would become a theme.
He returned for the first game of the playoffs, rotating for 31 minutes in the first game, but he reinjured his ankle at some point during the third game. It’s unclear if he was injured on a play when Philadelphia center Joel Embiid grabbed him. to Robinson’s leg, pulling him down for a Level 1 flagrant foul.
Robinson missed the next game. He returned to play 25 minutes in a Game 5 loss to the Sixers. The Knicks closed out the series one game later. During the last two competitions, Robinson has worked, favoring his left side.
Stress injuries are usually caused by overuse.
Robinson sent out two tweets after news of his season-ending injury broke.
“This is so fucked up, man, like I don’t even know what to say right now!” the first read.
A follow-up came moments later.
“It is not finished !” » reads the tweet. “I WILL SEEK VENGEANCE.”
He deleted the second message shortly after sending it.
Robinson is not the first Knicks player to leave the roster.
All-Star forward Julius Randle dislocated his shoulder in late January and hasn’t played since. He attempted to treat his injury, but required surgery in April.
Bojan Bogdanović injured his left foot during the Knicks–76ers series, colliding with Philadelphia wing Nicolas Batum, who unintentionally rolled over Bogdanović’s leg while chasing a loose ball. The 35-year-old forward underwent season-ending surgery last week.
The Knicks’ rotation is already thin.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has only used seven players in the 76ers’ final two series games. In the first game against the Pacers, he used eight, adding Achiuwa to replace Bogdanović. Now, Achiuwa will likely slide into the backup center spot. If Thibodeau continues with an eight-man rotation, then Alec Burks, who struggled after the Knicks acquired him from the Detroit Pistons midseason, becomes the most obvious option.
Robinson averaged 5.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24.8 minutes during the regular season. He averaged 2.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 19.1 minutes during the playoffs.
(Top photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
News Source : theathletic.com
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