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Heading into a highly anticipated Finals matchup between a hot Knicks team and a young and upcoming Spurs team, Mitchell Robinson was consistently brought up as someone who could have a big impact even in limited minutes. In the past, he’s dominated games, even series, with his elite offensive rebounding and game-changing defense. And he’s also had success slowing down Victor Wembanyama. Through three games, though, he’s been anything but a game changer.
In game one, the reserve big man had some solid minutes, scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds in 13 minutes. But since then, he’s not only been neutralized, but his presence has seemingly been detrimental to the team. He has yet to have a single game where he’s had a positive plus-minus, he’s grabbed just six offensive rebounds, has just one steal, and one block, and he’s done all that despite spending some of his minutes playing against Spurs backup, Luke Kornet, someone who many believed Robinson could, and would dominate.
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Unfortunately for the Knicks, though, it’s only gotten worse as the series has gone on. His game two, despite being bad, wasn’t disastrous. He was a -10 in 14 minutes, but made three of his six free throws, scored two baskets, and was more active defensively. Last night, though, Robinson looked very bad.
It’s hard to tell if it’s the hand, the overwhelming crowd, the moment, or just a lack of concentration, but it was clear from the beginning that Robinson just wasn’t where he needed to be. With about two minutes left in the first quarter, when the aforementioned Kornet sets a screen for De’Aaron Fox, he is caught flat-footed with his arms down, allowing Fox to take a very easy two-dribble pull-up jump shot. Making this play confusing is the fact that Kornet isn’t even rolling or popping. After setting a screen, he stands there for a good second or two, making Robinson’s decision to continue dropping questionable if not downright bad.
Just seconds later, Kornet gets the ball at the top of the key, which initiates a Dylan Harper cut off of him. Robinson, instead of reading this and dropping…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mitchell-robinson-learning-nba-finals-230414047.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-09 23:04:00
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