TORONTO — The Knicks’ long wait for Mitchell Robinson is over.
The team’s starting center and defensive linchpin was upgraded from out to questionable after participating in the team’s morning shootaround and was back in uniform for the first time since Dec. 8 on Wednesday night.
Robinson, who missed 50 consecutive games after suffering a left-ankle injury that required surgery, came off the bench with Isaiah Hartenstein remaining for now in the starting lineup.
He scored eight points and had two rebounds in 12 minutes of action in the Knicks’ 145-101 win over the Raptors.
“It’s a long layoff, so just get started with the next process and the next step for him,” Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “I think every player is different, brings different strengths to the team.
“With Mitch, we know [it’s] the shot-blocking, the rim protection, pick-and-roll defense, the pressure on the rim. And the offensive rebounding is obviously we think the best in the league. So all those things, they’re selfless things that help make the team a lot better. So we’re glad to have him back.”
The 25-year-old Robinson, who has been practicing with the Knicks for the past week, was leading the NBA at the time of his injury with 5.3 offensive rebounds per game. And his 10.3 overall average on the boards represented a career high.
Still, Hartenstein has played well in Robinson’s absence, posting 8.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game over 39 starts.
But Hartenstein also has been on a minutes restriction since the All-Star break to manage a nagging Achilles injury, averaging 22.8 minutes per game over his past 15 appearances.
Thibodeau hasn’t fully committed to a center rotation with Robinson returning, but he indicated last week that he could keep Hartenstein as the starter and stagger the minutes so the rest of the regular starting unit also gets time on the court with Robinson.
With Josh Hart, Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims playing expanded roles in Robinson’s absence, the Knicks began play Wednesday tied with the Hawks in offensive rebounding for the season with 12.8 per game.
“I think you look at your team and you ask yourself what are the strengths of our club?” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes you don’t really know how good it is.
“Like, when Mitch went down, Mitch was playing as well as any center in the league. And Isaiah stepped in and played great. And then what gets lost sometimes is when Jericho stepped in, Jericho has done a really good job. And when we made the trade [with the Raptors] and Precious came in, we’ve got great depth at that position and we like that. We think our rebounding has been one of our big strengths all year long. And even though we’re undersized, Hart is a great rebounder. Our reaction to the ball is good, but I like having a big team and I think you see for us, that’s one of our strengths.”
Two-time All-Star Julius Randle (shoulder) and former Raptors forward OG Anunoby (elbow) remain out for the Knicks, who entered the game fourth in the Eastern Conference (43-28).
They will have 10 games remaining in the regular season beginning Friday night in San Antonio.
The Raptors, losers of 11 straight games, were without former Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley (both for personal reasons), as well as All-Star wing Scottie Barnes and others.
“When you are playing teams who aren’t at full strength, no matter what the situation is, you can’t just walk into that game and think it’s going to be easy,” Jalen Brunson said. “These guys are NBA players, coached by NBA coaches and they’ve worked really hard to get to this point. So they’re all good players. It doesn’t matter the situation of who’s playing or not. We have to go out there and play the same way every time.
“I’ve heard that since I’ve been a kid from Thibs, my dad, pretty much every single coach I’ve had. So I think that is ingrained in my mind.”