The New York Knicks got a much-needed record-setting win on Wednesday. On Saturday, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-109 in a much closer game. It was, however, the gritty kind of win that gave fans some reasons for hope despite recent struggles. Karl-Anthony Towns was called for his fourth foul early in the second half, but Mitchell Robinson was there to save the day. The longest-tenured Knick shut down Joel Embiid again, reminding fans that their team has a pivot when Towns gets into trouble.
Robinson comes up big for Knicks in gritty win
If somebody told you that the Knicks' seven-foot rim protector has won them several playoff series before, they might not exactly be telling the truth. But they wouldn't be lying, either.
Robinson was integral to the Knicks' 2023 first-round victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was every bit of blinding light that Jarrett Allen talked about in his infamous quote from after the series ended. Robinson was also crucial to the Knicks' first-round win over the 76ers the very next year, particularly because of how effective he was against Embiid before the latter got injured.
Towns' fouls are a problem for the Knicks. They're a bigger problem than his defense, which has been alright this season. It certainly hasn't been some major hinderance to the team's pursuits. But Towns' foul troubles have been a hinderance to his own success.
Even though at least two of the first four foul calls against Towns were questionable, the veteran big man needs to know better with regard to adapting to how officials are calling games – and more particularly, officiating him personally. When he picked up his fourth foul just a minute and a half into the third quarter, head coach Mike Brown was forced to send him to the bench.
However, the Knicks had Robinson available and put him right in the game. The team is taking the long-view with regard to his injury history this season, sitting him out half of each back-to-back in an attempt to preserve his health through the rest of the season. Those efforts paid some early dividends on Saturday, with Robinson being able to give the team 27 minutes of action.
In that time, he scored six points on 3-of-4 field goal shooting and recorded 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. He won the Knicks' "Defensive Player of the Game" honors, awarded by the coaching staff to one player after each victory for their tenacity on the defensive end of the floor. The staff calculates plenty of stats in-house, such as sprays and hustle stats like deflections.
That all plays into who they choose to win Defensive Player of the Game, which Robinson has now done the second-most times out of anyone on the team. Pretty impressive for someone who's only played in 33 of the team's 46 games thus far, including the off-the-official-record NBA Cup Championship win.