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The New York Knicks picked up their first loss of the season against the Orlando Magic.
While much of the roster had an off night with Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Evan Fournier all struggling, perhaps the most concerning thing happened when center Mitchell Robinson briefly exited the game with an injury.
Robinson is no stranger to injuries and he missed the team’s playoff run last season and he missed most of the preseason as a result.
Due to the absence of both Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson to start the season, Robinson might’ve found himself thrown into the fire a bit earlier than expected.
He’s looked solid through three games, but the matchup against the Magic gave fans a little bit of a scare.
Robinson’s Okay
While Robinson did return to the game, there was still some concern among fans that he aggravated a previous injury. The Knicks center quickly put those concerns to rest.
“I’m all good no worries,” he tweeted. “Just gotta do better.”
The concern came when Robinson went up for a rebound and immediately grabbed at his right ankle. He left the game but only ended up missing about two minutes before coming back.
“It was shocking. It just happened so fast. And then my right foot, that’s what I’m trying to come back off of,” Robinson said via the New York Post. “So when it happened, I was like, ‘Oh snap.’ I didn’t know what I did. I’m just trying to get back.”
Knicks fans no doubt held their breath because this foot has been giving the center trouble for a while now. He broke his right foot back in March, and that’s after returning from a broken hand.
Robinson has set some lofty goals for himself this season, and the only way he’ll be able to reach those heights is by staying healthy. It sounds like this particular injury is nothing to be worried about, but he’ll definitely need to do a better job of avoiding them in the future. To be fair, he is getting better as the season goes on.
“The first game, I was gassed,” he said. “The second one I had a little more energy. The third one I felt even better. So I’m catching up quickly. I just gotta keep going.”
What Are His Goals?
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Robinson, when healthy, has shown he can be a dominant force on defense, and he can block shots with the best of them.
Because of this, Robinson wants to be in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion, and if he’s able to stay on the court and keep up his early season production, he could very well find himself hoisting the trophy.
Through three games, he’s averaging 1.7 blocks per game to go along with 0.7 steals. When he gets his conditioning right, he could easily lift those numbers to loftier heights. His first two seasons in the league saw him average over two blocks per game, so there’s no reason to suspect him not to be able to do it again.
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