The New York Knicks may get Mitchell Robinson back on the court very soon. According to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, the big man was a full participant in practice on Thursday and will be a game-time decision ahead of Friday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls.
Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson could return Friday vs. Bulls
Robinson has missed the first four games of the regular season while the team decided to hold him out to preserve his health. His official prognosis was left ankle injury management, and the team insisted that he did not suffer a new injury.
It is still unclear whether, if Robinson suits up, he will be on some type of minutes restriction or not. He last played in a game on October 9 during the preseason, so it might be safe to assume that there will be some sort of hard cap on his workload.
Getting Robinson back is huge for the Knicks’ frontcourt. They have had to rely on Ariel Hukporti and an injured Karl-Anthony Towns to carry the load, but that has not yielded the best results.
Reinforcements are on the way for the Knicks
New York was also without Guerschon Yabusele last game against the Milwaukee Bucks after suffering a left knee sprain against the Miami Heat in their previous game, and the lack of depth in the frontcourt was glaring. With Robinson possibly returning, the frontcourt gets a massive boost on the interior on both ends of the floor.
In other injury news, Miles McBride rejoined the team in Chicago after missing the previous two games for personal reasons, according to Bondy. McBride’s absence was felt tremendously, as the Knicks’ bench struggled to score in the two games that he missed.
With both of them possibly returning, this could be the first game of the season where the team is at full strength. New York is looking for a key bounce-back win against a red-hot Bulls team that has started the year 4-0, so having their main guys back will be huge for them.