Injuries aren’t good at any time, but injuries during the playoffs are much worse. The injury bug has bitten the New York Knicks again, as they have lost center Mitchell Robinson for the rest of the playoffs due to a stress injury to his left ankle. He will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks.
Robinson has been dealing with injuries all season. He missed 50 games in the regular season due to surgery on his left ankle. He also missed a game during the opening round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers due to a sprained ankle. Even when he wasn’t injured, Robinson wasn’t playing that well. He played in 31 games in the regular season and averaged just 5.6 points and 8.5 rebounds. In Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers, he played just 12 minutes scoring just two points and two rebounds.
Losing Robinson will hurt the Knicks. The Knicks are already thin on the bench and are without Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic for the rest of the playoffs. One area that not having Robinson will hurt is rebounding. Robinson is a good rebounder. The Knicks are third in overall rebounding percentage and first in offensive rebounding percentage in the playoffs.
The good news for the Knicks is that they have Isaiah Hartenstein and backups Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims. Achiuwa is better than Sims and should get some more playing time with Robinson out. The Knicks can’t afford any more injuries. If they keep dealing with injuries, they won’t make it past the Eastern Conference semifinals.
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