Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, who did not play in Game 4 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday because of left sprained ankle, was active for Game 5 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
Robinson entered the night listed as questionable but tested out his ankle during warmups and was ruled healthy enough to play about 30 minutes before tipoff. He originally suffered the injury in the first half of Game 3 on Thursday after he was dragged to the hardwood by Joel Embiid, was whistled for a flagrant foul on the play.
The 26-year-old left Wells Fargo Center in a protective boot.
“The first thing, he has to be cleared medically,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Once you get cleared medically, all that stuff is factored into it, then to go out there and play.
Embiid claimed he was not trying to intentionally injure Robinson in Game 3, brushing it off as an “unfortunate” situation. However, Josh Hart came to Mitchell’s defense following the Knicks’ 125-114 loss and essentially called Embiid’s actions dirty.
“Happy Mitch didn’t get a serious injury on that,” Hart said. “I’m all for tough fouls, tough playoff fouls, but that’s something that can put a guy out for a significant amount of time.”
Mitchell has averaged 3.7 points, 7.7 rebounds (4.3 offensive) across three games this series. Him being active for Game 4 was great news for the Knicks, considering Bojan Bogdanovic was ruled out for the rest of the postseason on Tuesday because of a left foot injury.
“Obviously you hate to see anyone get hurt, but it’s been our reality all season,” Thibodeau said. “Julius [Randle] being out, Mitch being out, OG [Anunoby] being out, Isaiah [Hartenstein] being out. Next guys get in there and get the job done. That’s what we need to do.”
