Mitchell Robinson has always been a very good defensive player. His body has held him back from All-Defensive award recognition. He’s missed 41 percent of the Knicks’ regular season games over the course of his seven-year career.
Robinson is healthy now, and there’s a completely different reason why he isn’t seeing the floor. Joe Mazzulla has done everything in his power to get him checked out of the game.
Robinson has hit only 26.9 percent of his free throws during these playoffs and 34.3 percent for his career. Intentionally fouling him is a valid strategy. Mazzulla took it to the next level though by fouling him twice with a little under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 2, before the Knicks were even in the bonus.
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That strategy did work in getting Robinson out of the game, but the Knicks didn’t even have to send him to the line. Mazzulla explained his rationale afterwards.
“He was a plus-19. All of their starters were in the negative.”
Robinson’s contributions aren’t always loud. But Mazzulla sees what the Knicks have already figured out — Robinson changes the series in their favor.
MORE: Updated NBA playoffs schedule
Mitchell Robinson is the Knicks’ not-so-secret weapon
The second-round series between the Celtics and Knicks was widely expected to be a snoozer based on Boston’s 4-0 edge during the regular season. Three of those wins were comfortable blowouts. Their last meeting was the only close one, a 119-117 overtime victory during the last week of the regular season. It was also the only game Robinson played in.
Robinson simply makes the Knicks better. He’s a plus-32 in the second round of the playoffs, which is the second-highest number behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s plus-35.
“He’s really effective for them,” Mazzulla noted after Game 2. “It’s something that we need to do a better job in those minutes.”
It’s no secret that the Knicks’ defense wasn’t as good as Tom Thibodeau hoped during the regular season, ranking 13th in the league. The team has great wing defenders, but Karl-Anthony Towns is a huge negative on that end of the floor.
The Wolves were able to build the best defense in the league with Towns last year by having him play next to Rudy Gobert. The Knicks are finding similar playoff success with Towns and Robinson. Via databallr, those two have held teams to an 87.3 defensive rating in the playoffs when they share the floor together, which is 26.5 points per 100 possessions better than league-average.
Towns isn’t a good rim protector. That has showed up in a big way in the second round, where the Celtics have scored at-will against him. Robinson has been the exact opposite, seemingly being in two places at once on drives.
The Celtics have been roundly criticized for setting for too many 3’s. Part of that though has been Robinson lurking in the paint, waiting to be challenged. He’s been one of the best rim protectors of the playoffs.
| Player | FG% allowed within six feet |
|---|---|
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 74.4% |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 72.7% |
| Al Horford | 42.4% |
| Mitchell Robinson | 40.0% |
Robinson’s not known as a switch defender, but he’s held up well there too. He’s stayed in front of speedy guard Payton Pritchard, he’s forced Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum into airballs, and he’s locked Tatum down for the most part, excluding one blow-by dunk towards the end of Game 2. Robinson made up for that play by switching on the very next possession, staying in front of Tatum and contributing to the defense that led to his game-deciding turnover.
The Celtics have tried to adjust by playing Kristaps Porzingis more with Robinson on the floor. Porzingis has the size to keep Robinson off the glass and also keeps him honest on defense.
Robinson’s rim protection disappears when the Celtics space Porzingis out on the 3-point line. He can stunt at drivers, but he can’t stray too far from the deadly shooter.
Porzingis has been ineffective throughout this series due to a mysterious respiratory illness. The Celtics were able to win the championship without him last season, but they may need him in order to counter Robinson and get past these Knicks.
Robinson is a pretty limited offensive center. He crashes the glass, finishes lobs, and sets killer screens. That has been enough though to unlock New York’s better scorers.
Mikal Bridges was invisible in the first half of Game 2, going 0-of-6. It was Robinson who helped him finish the game with 14 points.
Bridges scored all six of his field goals in his shared minutes with Robinson. He loves dribbling to the right elbow to get his jumper off. Robinson was able to create space for those looks.
“He’s able to get Bridges open looks last night with his ability to screen,” Mazzulla told reporters on Thursday.
Those Robinson-Bridges pick-and-rolls were so devastating that Jrue Holiday tried a never-before seen defensive coverage in order to try and stop them, running all the way across the other end of the floor to switch onto Bridges.
The Celtics are going to have to think of more innovative ways to slow down Robinson. He’s not the best player in the series, but he might have had the best performance in Game 2 (ugliest free throw attempt of the playoffs aside). He gives the Knicks that one extra piece that they were missing during the regular season, and that could be enough to topple the Celtics.
