The New York Knicks are your 2025 NBA Cup champions. And while their win over the San Antonio Spurs in the final round was thrilling, it also reminded the fanbase of one concerning reality about this team: that New York is going to have to rely on the rebounding of Mitchell Robinson if it wishes to win a championship this season.
Robinson's strength on the boards was a big reason they took home the win on Tuesday night. He pulled down 15 rebounds in just 18 minutes. The Knicks will continue to rely on him throughout the regular season and into the playoffs, but we all know how volatile this can get due to his injury history.
We know how much New York’s roster leans on him cleaning up on the defensive glass. With Karl-Anthony Towns spending more time at the five to add shooting and spacing, opponents see an opportunity to attack the rim in ways they might not have when the lineup was more traditional. Robinson’s ability to protect the paint and haul in boards has masked some of those limitations.
Mitchell Robinson has missed a lot of time due to injury
The problem here is that Robinson has only played in 65 games combined since the beginning of the 2023-24 year. His availability remains suspect. We know his value when he's on the court, but one untimely injury could do serious damage to New York's championship hopes with the roster constructed how it currently is.
There’s also the question of offensive rebounding. In crunch time, second-chance points are often the difference between winning and losing tight series. Robinson gave the Knicks exactly that in Vegas, and it was a big reason they were able to outlast the Spurs. But reliance on one man corralling the glass every night isn’t a sustainable strategy against the elite teams in the league, especially when physical wear and tear starts to factor in.
The encouraging part for New York is that other players have shown improved willingness to crash the offensive boards more aggressively. If that continues, it could reduce some of the burden on Robinson, allowing him to focus more on defensive positioning and less on constantly battling in the paint.
At the end of the day, elite rebounding has to be a team effort in the postseason. Robinson gives the Knicks a single anchor, but long playoff runs are won by squads that can rotate, box out, and crash the glass from multiple spots. If New York can expand that rebounding identity beyond just Robinson, they’ll be a real threat to anyone in the East. If they don’t, opposing teams will quickly figure out how to neutralize their biggest advantage.