Knicks notes: Mitchell Robinson shines in victory over the Nuggets; The depth of New York continues to mount
Nikola Jokic He missed three of the last four shots and had a turnover in the final minutes of the game NixWin over Nuggets.
His primary defender? Mitchell Robinson.
Robinson’s fingerprints were all over the Knicks’ win over Denver on Saturday. He had seven offensive rebounds out of New York’s 15 and added three assists, a steal and a block in the win.
It was the first time in Robinson’s five-year career that he had defeated the Nuggets at full strength.
“Jokic is a very talented player,” said Robinson. Going out there and winning, it was a great feeling.”
This was also Robinson’s first game since he wrote a Snapchat post He complains about his role in the Knicks crime. Robinson followed up with an Instagram post, saying he’s been through a lot personally lately.
After Saturday’s win, Robinson said he was really happy with his role in New York.
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be playing (the way) I just played. So yeah,” said the fifth-year center.
Tom Thibodeau He seemed to take Robinson’s comments about his role in stride.
“Mitch has been great all season. Anyone can have a bad day. If you had a bad day, cheers me up, have a good day. Don’t put anything in the way of a team,” Thibodeau said after the Knicks win.
I think he understands that. His teammates, they respect and appreciate him. We know all the dirty work he does for the team. It’s a big portion. He has a big role for our team. Go out and play, next play, don’t worry about what happened next play. no one is perfect.”
Depending on how his teammates feel about him, it would be surprising if any Nick would be upset about Robinson’s Snapchat post.
“We’re all brothers, so we were joking a little bit on the plane,” Emmanuel Quickly He said. “Mitch, he’s such a great, down-to-earth guy. Obviously, I think everyone knows that. He’s like a character. He can be funny and a little bit outgoing.”
We understand who Mitch is and we said to him, “Anytime we can help you get the ball a little bit more, we’ll try to do it.” So, we don’t take it seriously. We want everyone on the team to be happy and try to eat as well as win.”
The Knicks have had a lot of wins lately. They are 12 games over .500 with 10 games to play. Next week they will be at least 1.5 games ahead of Brooklyn in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
And they managed to win with both of them Galen Bronson Robinson goes out for extended periods.
“Sometimes guys deal with injuries or players just don’t play their best, and it’s great to know you’re coming off the bench and you’ve got guys who can be starters, guys who can be at a high level in this league,” Josh Hart He said about the depth of New York. “And it gives you the comfort of knowing it may not be my night but it will be someone’s night.”
“You’ve got guys that come off the bench and they can be starters. You obviously get the starters, who are obviously starters for a reason. And you saw the depth that we got with Deuce coming in, especially that Portland game – the whole road trip but especially the Portland game Which is played the way he played. That’s something you want along the stretch.
That’s something guys sometimes deal with with injuries or players not playing their best, and it’s great to know that you’re coming off the bench and you’ve got guys that can be starters, guys that can be at a high level in this league. And that gives you the comfort of knowing it may not be my night but it will be someone’s night.”
Hartenstein is thriving
Isaiah HartensteinThe recent play is an example of the depth of New York. He and bench Josh Hart helped New York keep the game even in the fourth quarter.
Hartenstein scored three rebounds and an assist in the fourth quarter. The Knicks outscored Denver by one goal in that stretch, giving the rookies the chance to close out the game.
In the seven games leading up to Saturday’s win, Hartenstein has had a plus/minus score of +85 — a number that tells you how much he’s affected games lately.
“I don’t know if it was a change as far as it cured everything. I think he feels more comfortable,” said Thibodeau.
When a player comes in and is new, adjusting to a new system and new teammates, it takes time. One of the by-products of when Mitch was out there gave him a chance to really get into rhythm and get healthy. That’s a big part of it, too.”
Julius Randel He likes what he’s seen of Hartenstein lately.
“He does a lot of little things. Whether he scores 10 points, 15 points, he rebounds, he defends, he gets his hands on plays and deflections and things like that. He puts up screens, really good screens,” Randle said.
He does a lot of little things for us that help us win.”
Take it to heart
With Saturday’s win, the Knicks improved to 11-3 with Josh Hart in the lineup. They had 42 wins, which was a record for Hart.
On Saturday, Hart scored 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. This was the second game in which he reached those numbers off the bench for New York.
Afterwards, Hart cautioned about the Knicks’ relief at this point in the season.
“It’s a win that we’re happy to play with a tough team like that, we play against the one seed but at the end of the day we can’t be satisfied. I think if we beat a team like that and we’re satisfied it doesn’t mean anything,” Hart said.
So work hard, keep improving, and keep learning. We prefer to learn by winning rather than by losing. We arrived in Minnesota on Monday. The Minnesota team is tough. They will come here ready to go.”
