Knicks prepare to move on against 76ers with or without Mitchell Robinson
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, goes up for a shot against New York Knicks' Mitchell Robinson during the first half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks were back at Wells Fargo Center for practice Saturday and Precious Achiuwa was the last player to remain on the court. Mitchell Robinson never got to practice with the team, which after all of the words and antics of Game 3 is the most telling and important effect of the Joel Embiid exploits.
Robinson, who was yanked down by his leg by Embiid on one play and rolled into by the 76ers star on another, was ruled out of the second half of Game 3 with a sprained left ankle. After leaving the arena in a walking boot Thursday night, he might be lost for Game 4 and beyond. Now the Knicks are left to figure out the other part of Embiid — how to stop a player who scored 33 of his 50 points after halftime when Robinson, their best defensive big man, was gone.
“Of course, you want everyone to be healthy,” Jalen Brunson said of Robinson. “And him fighting back, just having his injury come up again, it’s obviously sad. But I think the most important part of what happens is going forward, how can we stick together? It can’t be a pity party for anyone, no matter what’s going on, because no one’s going to care. How are you going to respond? How are we going to move on? How are we going to be better?”
It was the Knicks attitude Saturday as they approach Game 4 Sunday afternoon still holding a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Move on. Maybe forgive, but don’t forget.
Embiid’s 50 points may be the more pressing concern, but the Knicks aren't over the two flagrant fouls that were called against Philadelphia in the opening minutes of the game in addition to one that wasn’t called. The reality check is that they have to move on now.
“I’m not a journalist but if I were a journalist I’d write a couple things,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But it is what it is. I said what I said the other day. It’s gone. Get ready for the game. I think the consistency. Look at that play and then look at the Josh Hart play in Chicago. That’s my thing. That’s gone. Just be ready.
“The No. 1 job of the official is to control and manage the game. So when there’s stuff like that going on, that’s their job. But we don’t mind physical.”
“They’ve been physical every game,” Kelly Oubre told reporters at Philadelphia’s practice. “We were just physical as well that last game too. Now we’re too physical? At the end of the day both teams are clashing, both teams are you know trying to grit it out and play physical and play strong and play tough. They got the better of us in New York, so it’s only right that we come home and we do the same thing they did to us. Just compete. I think just all the back and forth nonsense is people trying to grab storylines. At the end of the day, we’re two teams that play physical, play hard. We grit it out and expect nothing less tomorrow
“I don’t think it’s dirty. Joel has to protect himself. At the end of the day, I’m not going to comment on what they are commenting on. At the end of the day, they’re going to hit, we hit back and then they cried. Vice versa or whatever the case might be. Let’s just hoop. Go out there and play hard. No one’s going to fight. This isn’t WWE. So, at the end of the day, stand on the stuff you all say. We’ll see how you react.”
But what the Knicks do mind is that they may have lost Robinson now, having already been without Julius Randle. The team has not ruled Robinson out and Donte DiVincenzo took the optimistic view.
“That's not our mindset, that's not his mindset,” DiVincenzo said. “So it's unfortunate that he went down. But he's doing everything possible and everybody expects him to play and that's our mindset. Our mindset isn't to feel bad for him because, you know, we're not thinking he's out and he's not thinking he's out.”
Achiuwa, who did not play in the first two games of the series, did get 10 minutes in Game 3 with Robinson out and Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble. At 6-8 and 243 pounds, he is not a size match for the 7-foot, 280-pound Embiid, but he did a credible job, using quickness and athleticism.
“Just be ready,” Thibodeau said. “Quickness is good but we need everyone tied together and that’s the challenge to do it for 48 minutes.
“That was one of the great things about our team all year long. Every time one guy went out, another guy came in. So Precious played well for us. Jericho [Sims] played well for us. The next guy get in there and get the job done. So it’s a team. We need everybody.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
