New York Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson went scoreless in Friday’s game against the Miami Heat, yet his impact was monumental. In under 15 minutes of playing time, he dominated on the boards and generated a lot of extra possessions for the Knicks. He totaled 10 rebounds, and eight of those came on the offensive glass.
Not far removed from Miami’s loss to the Knicks in which Robinson killed the team on the boards, Five Reasons Sports’ Greg Sylvander shared that the Heat always have been fond of the 27-year-old’s game.
“The HEAT always have been fond of Mitchell Robinson’s game,” Sylvander wrote via Discord.
It makes sense if Miami has long been a fan of what Robinson brings to the table, as he’s a uniquely talented player.
Robinson has been one of the NBA’s premier offensive rebounders and rim protectors during his time in the league. He holds career averages of 1.8 blocks and 3.7 offensive rebounds per contest across 343 regular-season games. Robinson has also averaged as many as 2.4 blocks per game in a single season, and he led the NBA in offensive rebounds per game a few years ago at 4.5.
While he’s undeniably been a huge positive presence for the Knicks throughout his tenure there, poor injury luck has prevented him from being consistently on the court in recent years. He played in just 31 and 17 games in each of the last two seasons, and he’s even been in and out of the lineup so far this season with left ankle injury management.
But thanks partly to Robinson’s huge effort on the boards, the Heat lost to the Knicks by a final score of 140-132 on Friday, and that marked their second consecutive defeat. Miami also came up short against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and as a result of this mini skid, the team has taken a dive in the standings. It currently sits as the No. 10 seed in the East with a 7-6 record.
The Heat will look to get back in the win column and do a much better job of limiting Robinson on the boards when they take on the Knicks once again on Monday. New York owns the No. 2 seed in the East with a record of 8-4.