Mitchell Robinson Injury Leaves Knicks Players Facing Game 1 Uncertainty

Mitchell Robinson’s broken right pinkie finger has put his Game 1 availability in doubt, and knicks players now have to prepare for the NBA Finals without knowing whether their backup center will be ready Wednesday night. He had surgery to repair the damage on his right hand after recently breaking the finger.

Robinson’s Right Hand Surgery

Mike Brown said Robinson did not hurt the finger in practice or during a game. “It was not at practice yesterday, and it wasn’t in the game,” Brown said at his news conference.

Robinson did not participate in Friday’s practice. That leaves a clear complication for a team that had just put together an 11-game playoff winning streak and has not won an NBA title since 1973.

Knicks Frontcourt Rotation

Brown called Robinson a backup center, and his value goes beyond minutes played. The injury lands at a time when the Knicks are getting ready for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against either Oklahoma City or San Antonio, which makes every available frontcourt option more important.

Brown said the way a broken pinkie affects a player can vary. “Different strokes for different folks,” he said. “That’s hard to generalize for an entire population.”

He added that staying even-keeled is part of his job in moments like this. “I feel like I’m pretty good at that,” Brown said.

Wednesday Night Decision

The immediate issue is simple: Robinson might play in Wednesday night’s opener, or the Knicks may have to build their rotation without him. For a club that has already run through an 11-game playoff surge, his status changes the shape of the front line before the Finals even begin.