Knicks Notes: Robinson, Towns, Brunson, Hart

The Knicks have been bringing along Mitchell Robinson slowly since he returned last month following his recovery from offseason ankle surgery. Entering play on Monday, Robinson had yet to be on the court for more than 19 minutes in any of his first seven outings this season.

However, as Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post details, Robinson saw an uptick in his playing time in Monday’s victory over Miami. His 10 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and 24 minutes all represented season highs, and he said after the game that he’s “getting the rhythm back a little bit.”

“I think the rim protection,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said when asked about the positive signs he’s seeing from Robinson. “His ability to get out on the perimeter, defend pick-and-rolls, challenge shots, cover a lot of ground and make a second or third effort to be up on a pick-and-roll and still get back to rebound and change shots. You’re seeing more and more multiple-effort plays from him. I think his timing is coming around. He’s moving great. He feels great.”

The Knicks’ two centers, Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns, had played just nine minutes together in Robinson’s first seven games back, but shared the court for 10 minutes against the Heat. Thibodeau liked what he saw from the twin-towers look.

“When you have two seven-footers out there, if you get by one, you’ve got another waiting at the rim,” Thibodeau said. “I think that has a huge impact on the game.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

• In an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart spoke about a wide range of topics, including how Brunson has adjusted to being the “face of the franchise” in New York, why Hart is having a career year, and how Thibodeau compares to their former Villanova coach Jay Wright.
• Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look at how the Knicks are attempting to “steal points” in transition as they play without Brunson, the organizer of their half-court offense, who remains sidelined due to a sprained ankle.
• After cameras captured them shouting at one another during a timeout in Golden State on Saturday (Twitter video link), Hart and Thibodeau both downplayed their sideline disagreement, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “You’re not going to find a more loyal player. I love Thibs. I think that was just my frustration coming out with the flow of the game, my own individual performance,” Hart said. “… It doesn’t affect our relationship. It doesn’t show anything of what’s going on. It’s just two extremely competitive people in a fiery moment. I love Thibs. I love what he’s doing. And he’s putting us in the best position to be successful.”
• In case you missed it, Knicks owner James Dolan made some rare public comments about the team last week, indicating that he plans for the current core to “be together for a while.”