The Knicks appear to have dodged danger with Jalen Brunson, who practiced Sunday after breaking his left ankle two days earlier.
Mitchell Robinson doesn’t appear to have been so lucky. The Knicks’ starting center and defensive point of reference did not train and has already been ruled out for Monday’s game against the Raptors due to ankle inflammation and has been sent for further evaluations on his left ankle, injured on Friday in Boston .Coach Tom Thibodeau did not reveal the nature of the tests and said he did not know whether the injury would keep Robinson out long-term.“Until we get the report, it’s just speculation,” Thibodeau said after practice. Robinson injured his ankle in the first half of the loss to the Celtics and required X-rays, which came back negative, according to Thibodeau. Robinson was not on the bench to start the second half, but returned shortly after and played nearly five minutes of the third quarter before playing in the fourth.After the game, Thibodeau said Robinson was “doing great.”“It’s nothing crazy,” Robinson said after Friday’s game, who thought at the time he would be fine Monday. “I think I may have made a misstep.”Robinson is one of the best rebounders in the NBA and a valued rim protector, the type who dominates games without scoring. The 7-footer is averaging 5.3 offensive possessions per game, leading the league on a Knicks team that ranks fifth overall in rebounding. Grabbing rebounds and loose balls – creating extra possessions – is perhaps the Knicks’ greatest strength.Another strength of the team has been health, and Robinson played the first 21 games of this season. In his first six NBA seasons, Robinson played a season-high 72 games (in 2021-2022) and dealt with several injuries along the way.Robinson missed 15 straight games with a broken hand during the 2020-21 season and then returned for four games before breaking a bone in his right foot.Last season, a knee injury forced him on the sidelines for two and a half weeks in November before requiring surgery for a fractured right thumb in January, costing him 14 games. This season has gone well for the 25-year-old, who is playing perhaps the best defense of his career. The Knicks have done a great job of keeping teams inside the perimeter, allowing 44.7 points per game, sixth-best in the NBA.Missing Robinson for an extended period of time would be a blow to the Knicks, who lost two in a row in their matchup with Toronto at the Garden.If there’s a silver lining, the Knicks are deep under center and will likely field Isaiah Hartenstein as the starter and lightly used third-year big man Jericho Sims as the backup. Hartenstein brings similar skills with him, so not much changes when he’s on the court. Sims, a jumper and deck athlete, has only played in nine games and has rarely logged significant minutes this season.“I always felt like that position was one of our strengths,” Thibodeau said of his centers. “The way Mitch played, the way Isaiah played – actually, Isaiah… deserved more [time].“But also, Jericho, we forget he’s sitting there. And Jericho played very, very well for us last year.If there’s a second positive, Brunson is the piece the Knicks can’t lose. The point guard is listed as questionable for Monday’s game because he suffered a sprained ankle after falling into the trash Friday and limping off the court, one of the worst scenes of the Knicks’ season. But Brunson had a normal gait when he watched Villanova’s win over UCLA on Saturday in Philadelphia, and Thibodeau said his point guard was fine.The Knicks hope they can say the same about their starting center.“It’s a long season, with people coming in and out of the lineup. Injuries are part of the game,” said Josh Hart. “I don’t know much about [Robinson] yet. But when someone is absent, it’s an opportunity for others to step in and expand other roles.”
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