The New York Knicks will likely be without yet another key player for the remainder of the playoffs, as Mitchell Robinson will join Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic in street clothes after suffering a stress injury in his left ankle.
The Knicks announced Robinson will miss at least 6-8 weeks with the injury, which is to the same ankle he had surgery on earlier this year.
Mitchell Robinson sustained a stress injury to his left ankle and will be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) May 8, 2024
That timeline would mean he’ll miss at minimum the entire Eastern Conference playoffs, and would, at best, be getting re-evaluated during the Finals. That means, effectively, his season is done, as it’s hard to imagine he’d go from getting re-evaluated and through a full ramp up in the midst of the Finals. That shifts even more of the frontcourt burden onto the shoulders of Isaiah Hartenstein, who has been terrific in this postseason, and will mean more small ball minutes for the Knicks with Precious Achiuwa at the five.
In Game 1 against the Pacers, Hartenstein played 36 minutes, Robinson played 12, and Achiuwa played four (all at power forward). Now, it’ll be difficult for the Knicks to play big throughout the full 48 minutes, and Hartenstein will have to be very careful of avoiding foul trouble, as there is just no one who can replicate what he does left on the New York bench.
