Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart could miss the Knicks’ season opener

The Knicks could be without two key players for the regular season opener against the Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart did not practice Monday, and new coach Mike Brown was unsure of their status for his first game as coach of the Knicks.

Hart missed the final four preseason games due to back spasms, while Robinson did not play in the final two games due to what the Knicks call load management. Robinson also hasn’t practiced this past week.

“Everything we do with him is about managing his workload, which we’ll do all year long,” Brown said when asked about an injury to the 7-foot-1 center.

Brown said he wasn’t sure if Robinson would be available Wednesday. On Friday before the preseason finale, the coach said Robinson would have played that night if it was a regular season or playoff game.

Injuries are a constant for the 27-year-old Robinson, who has averaged 48.1 regular-season games in his seven-year career. Considering the rim-protecting, offensive-rebounding dynamo’s impact when healthy, it makes sense that the Knicks would do whatever they can to keep him on the court.

It still seems strange that a player gets rest in the week before the regular season.

“I’ve been in different situations where as a guy you’re in, you’re managing his workload and he’s doing certain things, whether it’s shooting free throws, sometimes looking, sometimes walking through this, walking through that,” Brown said. “I’ve worked with a lot of guys who have done that over the course of my career, starting in the early 2000s at Spurs. We had a few older guys in the team so it’s not strange to me, but I’m not saying it’s a bad question.”

As for Hart, Brown believes he is making progress. At least he does work on the field on the side. The good news is that starters Karl-Anthony Towns (quad) and OG Anunoby (ankle), both of whom missed Friday’s game against the Hornets, are ready for Wednesday.

“Obviously you don’t want anyone to miss a moment, but that’s not realistic,” Brown said. “I was talking about, if someone goes down, that’s the next guy’s philosophy, and that’s the way we are. So whoever can work today, works, and you feel good about who’s on the floor knowing that you’ve got guys who are going to be on the floor sooner or later.”