Steve Popper: Knicks' Mitchell Robinson a more energized rim-protector after sitting out back-to-back games
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson looks on against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 3, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
TORONTO — The Oklahoma City Thunder will arrive at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night as defending champions and in a virtual tie for the best record in the NBA this season. It is a test for any team and maybe an important one for the Knicks, who are already 0-3 against the team that is tied with the Thunder, the Detroit Pistons.
And the Knicks have likely chosen to let Mitchell Robinson watch that game in street clothes.
He’d just finished up preparation for Tuesday night’s game against the Raptors, the front end of a back-to-back set. And as it has been all season long, the Knicks continue to keep Robinson from playing in back-to-back games.
That meant that Robinson would sit against OKC and miss a chance to wrestle in the paint with his friend and former teammate, Isaiah Hartenstein. The Thunder, who were in Chicago Tuesday night, sat Hartenstein and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for that game, likely making them available for the Knicks.
“It wasn’t my choice,” Robinson said after Tuesday’s morning shootaround at Scotiabank Arena. ”I let coaches decide which game they want me to play. I’m just sticking to the plan that we have in front of us,” Robinson said. “It’s been working so far. So just stick to it.”
“Just they’re in the conference and all that stuff,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said of the decision to play him Tuesday. “Oklahoma City is in the Western Conference. But again, he’s going to play tonight and we’ll evaluate tomorrow when tomorrow gets here.
“These guys came up with a plan and we just take it game by game. And we knew we wanted him to play tonight. We’ll just figure out tomorrow when it comes. For the most part that’s how it’s been. It just happens pretty quickly when the day comes. “
The plan, not put in place by Brown and his staff, even if they may decide which end of the back-to-back Robinson is active for, has managed to keep Robinson not only on a path to be ready for the postseason, but also appearing as athletic as he has in years.
“I feel great,” Robinson said. “It’s awesome. This plan we’re on, we should just stick to it.”
Robinson is averaging an astounding 8.20 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, a figure that not only leads the NBA but would be the greatest single-season mark in NBA history. He enters the game and changes it the second he arrives, defensively protecting the rim in a way that no one else on the team can, and then getting the Knicks extra opportunities on offense.
And he enjoys, as he calls it, “Trolling,” on social media, whether it’s fans or even the opposition. Like when he noted that he entered the game Sunday in the first quarter it turned, after Victor Wembanyama struggled to explain how things went wrong.
“We were down, I came in, we came back and won,” Robinson said. “Yeah, that’s like my job. That’s my job on this team. Bring energy off the bench. That’s what I try to do every night when I play. So continue to do that.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Mikal Bridges said. “Just his impact is a lot, especially on the defensive end, and on offense, too, with the rebounding, extra possessions. Yeah, he impacts a lot every time he’s out there. We need him every time.”
They just don’t get him every time, at least not until the postseason when there are no back-to-back games. And there are things missing, maybe from the lack of rhythm with the nights off or maybe, as Robinson believes, that his offensive struggles arise with the lack of chances to touch the ball other than when he pulls it off the backboard.
Robinson is shooting a career-worst 39.3% from the free-throw line, where his form appears better than in the past as he works with Knicks shooting coach Peter Patton, but the results have continued to confound him.
“Yeah, it’s part of it,” he said. “I don’t get shots up like that. I just do a lot of layups, hook shots, stuff like that.
"If you don’t get shots, you don’t know how it is. You’re not comfortable with it. So it’s just like: you got to get some shots up. I do it in the summertime. … And just get away from it.
“If you’re not shooting shots, even if you’re not going to shoot them in the game, it’s still good to have that muscle memory like that. And also confidence with it, too. It goes hand in hand.”
Robinson may never get those opportunities on a Knicks team loaded with offensive weapons. For now, it’s the same every night. Do the dirty work, on the nights he’s allowed to do it.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
