Mitchell Robinson’s availability remains a nightly question mark.
He was out of the Knicks’ 119-102 win over the Wizards on Monday night at Madison Square Garden due to treatment for a left ankle injury, the same title he has held since the beginning of the year. In his place, coach Mike Brown inserted Landry Shamet into the starting lineup on Monday. Shamet recorded 11 points.
Monday was the second leg of the Knicks’ first back-to-back of the season after beating the Bulls at home on Sunday. It is clear that Robinson is not ready to handle the workload on consecutive days.
That means Robinson has played just 33 minutes combined seven games into the season.
Coach Mike Brown was non-committal Monday on whether Robinson will ever play both parts of a back-to-back this year. He clarified that Robinson is on a minutes restriction.
“It’s just part of his load management,” Brown said. “We’ll continue to do that all year long. Whatever they tell me, I’m going to do it.”
He played 13 minutes in Sunday’s win. He didn’t score, but he did grab five rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass. He left briefly in the third quarter after landing awkwardly on his right ankle, but quickly returned later in the quarter. It’s his left ankle that the Knicks are dealing with, which he underwent surgery on 18 months ago that caused him to miss most of the regular season last year.
Robinson made his season debut in the Knicks’ loss to the Bulls in Chicago on Friday, recording four points and 11 rebounds (six offensive) in 20 minutes of action.
Josh Hart (sprained left ankle) entered Monday questionable but was available and had an impact for the second night in a row. His tough battle at the beginning of the season seems to be behind him. He finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
He was the walking wounded this year. He missed the first game of the year with lower back spasms and revealed Sunday that he is dealing with nerve damage in his ring finger on his right shooting hand.
“Obviously frustrating,” Hart said of the injuries. “Basically getting beat up and hurt for three months? It’s a bit frustrating, but that’s part of it. It’s part of playing a contact sport, so it is what it is.”
Guerschon Yabusele, who had played just five minutes total in the previous two games and who Brown acknowledged was on the fringe of the rotation, logged 14 minutes and grabbed three rebounds on Monday. However, he missed both shots he attempted – two three-pointers.
“Yabu has done a great job, a lot of things that don’t show up in the statistics,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He influenced the game of winning.”
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