Knicks' Mitchell Robinson ready for fight vs. Pistons
New York Knicks guard #23 Mitchell Robinson. Knicks prepare for Playoff Series Against the Detroit Pistons. New York Knicks Practice facility. Wednesday April 16, 2025 Credit: Howard Simmons
GREENBURGH
Bring it on, Detroit.
Mitchell Robinson didn’t play a minute of basketball in the regular season against this young Detroit Pistons team. So he has put in extra time in the film room, studying the Knicks’ first-round playoff opponent, and he thinks he has a pretty good idea of what is going to transpire.
“It’s gonna be a dirty series,” he predicted after the Knicks’ practice on Thursday. “We’re going to get out there and fight.”
Sixth-seeded Detroit has some reason to feel confident entering Saturday’s Game 1 at Madison Square Garden. The Pistons are young and athletic and went 3-1 against the Knicks in the regular season. Robinson missed the first three contests as he recovered from offseason ankle surgery, and coach Tom Thibodeau rested him for the final contest just a week ago.
Robinson, a tenacious defender, shot-blocker and offensive rebounder, will be a key factor in what is expected to be a very physical series.
Though nowhere near as accomplished, nasty or reviled as Detroit’s original Bad Boys, this young Pistons team has shown that it isn’t afraid to mix it up. In the regular season, Detroit was fourth in the NBA in total fouls with 1,695 and got into it with multiple teams. Four Pistons players have been ejected at least once this season. Cade Cunningham was assessed back-to-back technical fouls against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 15 for arguing with refs.
In the previous two seasons, the Knicks were a defense-first, physical type of team, the kind that never backed down from a challenge. They gave up a lot of that when they sent Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns, who is having an incredible offensive season but struggles to protect the rim.
The Pistons have a physical frontcourt with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, and there is some conjecture that the Knicks may end up playing Towns and Robinson together. The two played only 47 minutes alongside each other in a two-big alignment and outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions.
“It’s a small sample size. But we’ve had some good minutes with them, particularly down the stretch here as Mitch has been able to get more rhythm. It’s been good,” Thibodeau said earlier this week. “It depends, a lot of it depends on who they have on the floor, but I like it a lot.”
No matter whom he is on the floor with, Robinson has been waiting for this moment since suffering an ankle injury in Game 3 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the 76ers a year ago.
Robinson ended up having ankle surgery in May and didn’t play a game with the Knicks until Feb. 28. Though he played more than 20 minutes in only three games, he was productive, averaging 11.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 2.0 steals per 36 minutes.
Robinson has dealt with a number of injuries during his career. Last season, an ankle fracture took him out from December to just before the playoffs. He said he took a different approach to his rehab this season so he could be fully healthy for the playoffs.
One of the biggest changes he made was dropping some significant pounds. “It was up there. It was 290-something,” Robinson said with a smile as he popped a grape into his mouth. “Now, what am I at? 260? [I was] heavy as hell.”
Robinson has had some dominating playoff performances. Two years ago, in the first round against Cleveland, he controlled the glass while embarrassing Cavaliers big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. He also defended Joel Embiid well before getting injured in the 76ers series.
This year, he needs to help the Knicks match Detroit’s bruising style of play.
“That’s the biggest part about it,” Robinson said. “Physicality with Detroit and us. It’s something we just have to bring. I’m ready to go.
“Get out there, fight and compete — for the city.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
