After going 0-3 on their first road trip of this season, the Knicks returned home to Madison Square Garden on Sunday to defeat the Chicago Bulls 128-116 prior to falling to the Bulls in Chicago two days earlier by 135-125. They began the three-game trek losing to the Miami Heat 115-107 followed by a 121-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. But they will have time to examine and correct their flaws during the current seven-game home stretch.
The one somewhat positive takeaway in the midst of their games away from MSG was center Mitch Robinson making his season debut as he logged 20 minutes versus the Bulls in Chicago. Robinson had been held out due what the Knicks termed left ankle management. The 7-footer has had two surgeries on his problematic ankle, the first in December 2023 to address a stress fracture and again in May of 2024 to repair a stress injury.
Robinson was in the lineup for 13 minutes facing the Bulls on Monday. However, the downside is he sat out against the Wizards and Knicks head coach Mike Brown informed the media that Robinson will be on a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future, which translates into also sitting out games to limit the wear and tear on his fragile ankle.
“It’s just part of his load management,” informed Brown. “We’ll keep doing that throughout the course of the year. Whatever they (the medical staff and front office) tells me, I’m gonna do.” The Knicks hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves last night at the Garden with Robinson back in the lineup. The Timberwolves’ star guard Anthony Edwards, who was expected to be out recovering from a right hamstring strain he sustained on October 26, also returned after missing the previous four games.
The Knicks, who were 4-3 going into last night, are still endeavoring to gain positive consistency on both ends of the court, mastering Brown’s systems and schemes he’s implemented in his first season leading the team. With legitimate championship aspirations, they sat outside of the top 10 in most important statistical metrics such as offensive and defensive ratings, net rating, assist ratio, assist percentage and assists to turnover ratio.
The numbers are bound to improve, especially as forward Karl-Anthony Towns continues to become more grounded in Brown’s offense. The five-time All-Star looked unsure and out of sorts offensively in the first few games of this season but is gradually acclimating to playing in a drive and kick, fast paced system, a variance from what former head coach Tom Thibodeau employed last season despite the Knicks being below the top 10 in pace.
On Monday, Towns scored a season high 33 points and had a team-high 13 rebounds against the Wizards.
“KAT was a monster,” said Brown. “He’s starting to feel and find his rhythm in what we’re trying to do. I’m telling you, there’s still a lot of room there to grow. Not just for him, but for us to learn him, starting with me…”
Towns’ take on his performance was more elemental.
“Same mindset as every other game: just win the game,” he assessed. “I had the chances tonight to get some more shots up so I just had to capitalize on it.”
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