The stress fracture in Mitchell Robinson’s surgically repaired left ankle dealt yet another blow to a Knicks team plagued by injuries all season.
The 7-foot center will be reevaluated in six-to-eight weeks, the Knicks announced Tuesday, likely ending his postseason.
Robinson’s absence presented another challenge for a beat-up Knicks frontcourt already without forward Julius Randle (shoulder) and Bojan Bogdanovic (foot) due to season-ending injuries.
It also created a void in the seven-man rotation coach Tom Thibodeau had mostly rolled with since Bogdanovic went down in Game 4 of the Knicks’ first-round series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Knicks used four players for at least 42 minutes in Monday’s Game 1 win against the Indiana Pacers to begin the second round. Among them was Josh Hart, who played the entire game for the third time in these playoffs.
“We’ve been shorthanded the entire season,” Thibodeau said after Monday’s victory. “This team has the belief that it can win, so just whatever you have, give it to your team, and that’s what we’re asking guys to do.”
The Knicks are hardly the only team to navigate noteworthy injuries this postseason. The Sixers’ Joel Embiid played through an ailing knee and a migraine before being eliminated by the Knicks. Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton continues to deal with a barking back.
Milwaukee didn’t have Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf) during its first-round series loss to the Pacers, while Damian Lillard (Achilles) missed two games. Kristaps Porzingis (calf) remains out for the Celtics. Kawhi Leonard (knee inflammation) missed four games in the Clippers’ first-round loss to the Mavericks, while Dallas’ Luka Doncic is playing through a sprained knee.
“Everybody’s going through something right now,” Haliburton said Tuesday at Pacers practice. “It’s the second round of the playoffs.”
Here are the injuries the Knicks have managed to overcome thus far.
MITCHELL ROBINSON
Robinson, who began the season as Knicks’ starting center and defensive anchor, needed surgery on his left ankle in December and missed 50 games before returning on March 27 in a bench role.
He appeared in six of the Knicks’ seven playoff games before being diagnosed with the stress fracture. He had also missed Game 4 of the Sixers series due to the ailing ankle.
Despite moving behind Isaiah Hartenstein on the depth chart, Robinson played a prominent role defending Embiid in the opening round.
JULIUS RANDLE
Randle was in the midst of another All-Star season when he landed on his right shoulder after a fourth-quarter collision in a Jan. 27 win over the Miami Heat.
The 29-year-old Randle attempted to rehab the dislocated shoulder for more than two months before opting in early April to undergo season-ending surgery.
Randle, who missed the final 36 games of the regular season, averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
OG ANUNOBY
That Jan. 27 game also proved to be Anunoby’s final appearance before a prolonged elbow-related absence.
Anunoby underwent surgery on Feb. 8 to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow and, after returning for three games in mid-March, missed nearly three more weeks after reinjuring the elbow.
The lockdown defender, whom the Knicks acquired in a late-December trade with Toronto, missed 27 of 30 games during that stretch but has been a mainstay in the Knicks’ starting lineup throughout the playoffs.
BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
Also acquired in a midseason trade, the sharp-shooting Bogdanovic saw his postseason end in an instant when Philadelphia’s Nic Batum rolled up on his foot while chasing a loose ball.
The injury required season-ending surgery for Bogdanovic, who was also nursing an ailing wrist.
Bogdanovic, 35, came off the bench for the Knicks after being acquired from the Pistons. He made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in a Game 1 win over Philly.
OTHERS
Hartenstein played through an aggravated Achilles for much of the season. He missed seven games between Jan. 22 and April 12 but has started every game of the postseason.
Jalen Brunson experienced a scare with his left knee in early March, but the All-Star guard ended up missing only two games with what was called a contusion.
Jericho Sims became Robinson’s initial replacement in the starting lineup in December but rolled his ankle five games later and didn’t play for about two weeks.
