As the Knicks contemplate whether to retain Mitchell Robinson on a long-term contract, his impact on the offensive glass continues to soar.
The pending free-agent center recorded 10 offensive rebounds and 12 boards overall in Friday’s 110-107 victory over the Wizards at the Garden. Robinson trails only Grizzlies big man Steven Adams in offensive rebounds per game this season, averaging 4.02 over 64 appearances.
“Huge … those effort plays, they inspire your team,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game Friday. “Our rebounding has been off the charts, that’s a big part of winning. You have to keep improving … keep fighting, scratching. Whatever we gotta do, we gotta do right now.”
The Knicks (30-40) leapfrogged the Wizards into the 11th position in the Eastern Conference with their second straight win, but they began play Saturday five games behind Charlotte and Atlanta for the final two play-in berths with 12 games remaining. Thibodeau’s team will face the Hawks on Tuesday at home and will visit the Hornets the following night after hosting the Jazz on Sunday night at the Garden.
Led by Julius Randle’s 10.0 rebounds per game, the Knicks rank third in the league in team rebounding (46.6) this season. Robinson’s 8.7 rebounds per game represent a career high over his four NBA seasons.
“I think we’ve been pretty good most of the year,” Thibodeau said. “There are all these different metrics people use to measure things. My eyes tell me things, too. I know if a guy is guarding the ball well. I know if a team is in the gaps. I know if a team is keeping the ball out of the paint. I know if a team is challenging shots. I know if a team is rebounding.”
Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. knows, too, and he criticized his big men — including former Knicks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis — for not preventing Robinson from dominating the offensive glass. That dominance led to 20 second-chance points for the Knicks.
“That’s what he does, that’s how he impacts the game, and we allowed him to do that,” Unseld said. “Ten offensive rebounds is inexcusable, totally. Twenty second-chance points, you’re not gonna win many games like that.”
“Huge, man. Huge. He’s been doing that for us all year,” added Randle, who had 18 points and 17 rebounds (16 defensive) against the Wizards. “So, I guess we expect it, but it’s not normal for a guy to do that consistently every night. But him bringing that energy and effort, attacking the offensive glass and finding offense that way and protecting the rim like he does is huge for us.”
Rookie center Jericho Sims also grabbed four offensive rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench, contributing to the Knicks’ 19 overall.
“The pressure they’re putting on the rim, too, if you don’t react to that, you’re giving up a dunk,” Thibodeau said of Robinson and Sims. “If you do react, then RJ [Barrett] can get to the rim, and Julius can get to the rim,”
The 7-foot Robinson also scored 15 points in the win on 6-for-10 shooting, leaving his field-goal percentage for the season at .766. That would eclipse the league record of .742 he set in 2019-20, but Robinson is not currently eligible to win that title. A player now needs a minimum of 300 made field goals to qualify for the league lead, so Robinson would need to convert 68 shots over the team’s final 12 games (5.6 per game) to be considered.
Read More: Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding giving Knicks a boost