After the Knicks' recent victory over Atlanta in early April, Mike Brown told reporters that he extended Mitchell Robinson's minutes during the game. Robinson responded to his extra time on the floor with an impactful 8 points,12 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. The big man won the team's "defensive player of the game" award for his efforts.
New York didn't give Robinson those kind of minutes often throughout the regular season. He missed 22 games and logged his fewest minutes per game (19.6) outside of last season, when he played only 17 total games.
Most of his time on the injury report this season was due to load management, suggesting Mitch might be in the best shape we've seen him heading into this postseason. Being able to extend Robinson's playing time in a game that was likely a playoff preview backs that up.
Robinson has been Knicks' X-Factor against Hawks this season
In his two games against Atlanta this season, Robinson averaged a commanding 10.5 rebounds,
7 points, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in only 19 minutes per game. He leads the Knicks in plus-minus when facing the Hawks this season (+14), especially because he was held out of New York's only loss to Atlanta.
Mike Brown was not the only coach who noticed Robinson's impact in the contest. Hawks head coach Quinn Snyder said he had trouble finding someone to match up with the Knicks' big man. Atlanta was without center Jock Landale, whose availability for the first round is still unknown.
"I put Tony [Bradley] in a really difficult position tonight in the first quarter and really did the same thing with Mo [Gueye], having him guard Mitchell Robinson. That's not the way that we've used him because that's been Jock [Landale]," said Snyder.
Whether Landale is healthy or not shouldn't affect Robinson's impact too much against the Hawks, but Atlanta has already expressed having difficulties containing Robinson without Landale's presence.
This may be the healthiest Robinson has looked to start the postseason in a while
Robinson was not fully healthy in either of the Knicks' past two playoff runs. He was dealing with ankle injuries or surgeries sustained during the regular seasons of both 2024 and 2025. This season, his absences seem to stem from the Knicks managing his health and limiting his minutes during the regular season, perhaps to keep him primed for the postseason.
The Knicks should look like an improved team if Robinson is healthy. Many teams played New York this season while Robinson sat out to manage injuries or played limited minutes. He can serve as a secret weapon throughout the Knicks' title chase if he's in better shape than the team has let on all season.
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