The New York Knicks showed fight and resilience on Tuesday to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup Championship. New York doesn’t claim the victory if not for Mitchell Robinson, whose impact on the glass completely changed the game.
Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson showcases rebounding prowess in NBA Cup Championship
Robinson played in only 18 minutes, but he made the most out of those minutes with some incredible hustle on the boards. He finished with 15 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds, in that amount of time.
Even crazier, he outrebounded the entire Spurs team by himself in the fourth quarter. He recorded eight rebounds himself while the Spurs could only secure six as a team down the final stretch.
“I knew playing against Mitch how he impacts the game. To be his teammate now and see what he does, shoutout to Mitch man. Hell of a day at the office for him,” Karl-Anthony Towns said, via SNY.
Robinson’s impact has been top-notch
Robinson has had an up-and-down season, but the one constant has been his impact on the rebounds. Without him, the Knicks don’t get the surplus of second-chance opportunities they get now, and that could go a long way down the road and into the postseason.
As long as Robinson is able to stay healthy, the Knicks have themselves a big man who can change the course of a game simply from his rebounding. There are still things he needs to work on to become even more useful, especially from the free throw line, but he is still finding a way to impact the game positively despite that.
Robinson and the Knicks will shift their focus back to the regular season on Thursday, when they head to Indiana to take on the Pacers.