It took longer than expected, but New York Knicks fans finally saw Mitchell Robinson play basketball on Friday night in Memphis. Two ankle surgeries last season restricted him to 31 games, and caused him to sit out the first 58 of the 2024-25 season.
Robinson posted six points, four rebounds, and one assist in 12 minutes in a solid season debut performance in a one-point win over the Grizzlies. He finished with two points, two rebounds, and one block in an overtime win over the Heat on Sunday. The Knicks are 2-0 with Robinson in the lineup, and he's still on a minute restriction. Fans hope it's a small sign of what's to come.
The center understandably looked a few steps slow in his first two games, which could be attributed to the fact he hasn't played in a game since last May. Nobody thought his conditioning would be up to par after a long absence resulting from an ankle surgery.
The good news is that there's still a little over a month left to play in the regular season, so the goal is for Mitch to be as ready as he can be for the playoffs.
Tom Thibodeau referred to Robinson last week as the starting center, hinting he could return to his familiar role. Doing so would push Karl-Anthony Towns to the four, like in Minnesota when he played alongside Rudy Gobert. Fans have been (impatiently) waiting to see Robinson and Towns share the floor (for more than a late-game free throw), something that has yet to (really) happen.
Knicks fans ready to see Robinson and KAT actually play together
The first thing on Tom Thibodeau's mind on Friday wasn't putting Robinson and Towns on the floor together. Nor was that his priority on Sunday.
If Thibodeau hopes to eventually start KAT and Robinson, it likely won't happen until the former is ready to take on a larger workload. The early results are promising, but again, it's too soon to determine what kind of player Mitch will be for the rest of the season.
New York needs Robinson to return to his form of being an elite rim-protecting center, which is what KAT hasn't been. Starting the two together would boost the Knicks' average defense, but it could hurt one of the league's top offenses. However, the switch could be what helps New York go toe-to-toe with teams like Boston in the postseason.
Robinson doesn't have to start for him and Towns to play together, though. Stay tuned to see when Thibodeau tries the combo out.