Money Mitch
On a night they needed to drag themselves across the finish line, Mitchell Robinson was at his best.
Good morning! All hail Money Mitch…
Knicks 101, Pacers 92
43-25 (W2); 20-16 on the road
Death, taxes, and trap games at the end of a long road trip.
Doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter where. Some things in the NBA are just givens. When you factor in the Knicks Pacers rivalry and the fact that these teams are incapable of playing anything but a nail-biter, we knew Friday night would not be easy.
Thankfully, the only surer bet in the NBA than a tough end to a five game road trip is Mitchell Robinson suctioning rebounds like an industrial strength wet vac. And did he ever in Indiana, grabbing more boards than in any of the previous 385 games he’s played.
22 isn’t great in blackjack, but it was the perfect number last night, including nine big ones on the offensive glass that led to 11 additional Knick points in a game they won by nine. The biggest of those, by far, came with just over two minutes left and his team clinging to a four-point lead. After a Jalen miss, Mitch gobbled up the carom, which eventually found its way to Mikal Bridges for a 3-pointer. The lead never got below seven again.
It’s not an exaggeration to say Robinson’s board work alone was the difference between winning and losing, and he couldn’t have picked a better night to show out. Mitch has had equally strong performances on a per minute basis against better competition, but to play 31 minutes - by far his highest total of the season - on a night when the Knicks were missing both Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart was beyond necessary. Without him, this would have been a very different end to the road trip.
