New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has seen his playing time adjusted as the season goes on. The team is taking a conservative approach with him this year to preserve his health by load managing his workload on the court.
Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson is still on a minutes restriction of sorts
In seven games this season, Robinson has yet to surpass 20 minutes in a game. He played 18 minutes in Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat, recording five points and 11 rebounds, but he only played two minutes in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Mike Brown elaborated on Robinson’s minutes restriction following Monday’s loss and said that his restriction is slowly being loosened, and that he played fewer minutes on Monday because of how Guerschon Yabusele was playing.
“[His minutes limit] has increased. It’s gone up three times,” Brown said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “It’s all part of the load-management thing. So it’s not necessarily a restriction. It’s just continuing the process with our load management. So it’s going up. He could’ve played 27 minutes. But I threw Yabusele in the game because [Karl-Anthony Towns] picked up early foul trouble, and Yabusele was playing well. And so I didn’t go back to Mitch because of it, but he could definitely go in the 20s.”
Yabusele played 10 minutes in Monday’s loss, seven of which came in the third quarter. In his minutes, he recorded three rebounds and no other stats, not even attempting a shot.
The Knicks needed Robinson down the stretch against the Heat
The rebounding was impactful, but the Knicks needed Robinson out there for the rim protection. During the fourth quarter, the Knicks had no way of stopping Miami’s relentless offensive attack, which allowed them to gain a 10-point advantage over New York late in the fourth.
Credit to the Knicks for making a valiant comeback effort down the stretch, but it was too little too late. Their defensive lapses without Robinson are ultimately what cost them an opportunity to win, even on a night they shot poorly from three.
Preserving Robinson’s health long-term is the right approach, but they will still want to get him on the floor as much as possible to give them a better chance at accomplishing their ultimate goal.