The New York Knicks are awaiting the winner of the Western Conference Finals after eliminating the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 4-0 sweep to win the East. The San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder have pushed their series to seven games, so the Knicks are a few days away from knowing for sure who their opponent will be.
The Knicks have rolled through the Playoffs with little competition, giving their players plenty of rest over the last two series, which ended in a 4-0 sweep win for New York. Unfortunately, the team is still facing an injury problem with a rotational player, as backup center Mitchell Robinson underwent surgery on his pinky finger and was reported as out indefinitely.
ESPN’s Shams Charania shared a positive update on Friday morning, revealing Robinson intends to play in Game 1 with a brace on his finger.
“Mitchell Robinson has undergone surgery on his broken right pinky finger — and fully plans to play in the New York Knicks’ Game 1 of the NBA Finals against OKC or San Antonio next Wednesday while wearing a brace on his hand, sources tell ESPN.”
Robinson has averaged 5.3 points and 5.5 rebounds on 14.2 minutes per game through the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
He’s been limited to around 10-15 minutes a game, where he provides high-energy rebounding and rim protection. His poor offensive skills make it hard for the Knicks to operate their five-out offense, but Robinson’s presence boosts the team’s defense and gives them a rotational option behind Karl-Anthony Towns. The next center in their rotation is Ariel Hukporti, who averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in the regular season and has received limited postseason minutes.
With Robinson’s rotational load already pretty minimal, risking a pinky finger injury shouldn’t be that much of a problem, especially because it’s the NBA Finals. Nobody wants to miss a Finals game for something they can play through, which is what Robinson is doing. The worry is that the center might struggle at grabbing rebounds, his primary skill, with his hands being less than 100%.
Robinson being limited with injury will have a real effect on the Knicks if the Spurs advance to the Finals, as he’d be an effective weapon against Victor Wembanyama. The Thunder plays into the Knicks’ strength as a perimeter-oriented team, so Robinson’s absence could be mitigated in that series. However, the Knicks will need an effective Robinson to stop Wembanyama, as Wemby has shredded every defender he’s faced in the postseason outside of four-time DPOY Rudy Gobert.
If Robinson can’t even play 10 minutes effectively, the Knicks will likely increase the burden on players like Towns and OG Anunoby in the frontcourt to compensate for the lack of Robinson. It’s the Finals, so neither player will be concerned with minimizing future injury risk to themselves with a championship on the line. This is what players load manage for all season, so Towns and Anunoby should be ready and willing to take on more minutes if Robinson can’t play.
Knicks coach Mike Brown is in his first season with the franchise and has judiciously rotated his players. Former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau would anyway force Anunoby and Towns to play 40 minutes a game in the Playoffs, so they definitely can manage that now after playing 33.8 minutes and 30.2 minutes per game, respectively, so far in the postseason.
