Mitchell Robinson did individual work at Knicks practice with protection on his surgically repaired right pinky, and Mike Brown still didn’t have a firm Game 1 answer ahead of Wednesday night in San Antonio.
Robinson underwent surgery on a fractured fifth metacarpal, the bone that connects the wrist to the pinky finger, and is pushing to play in Game 1 while wearing a brace, per Shams Charania. Brown said Robinson did some individual work Sunday before the team flew to San Antonio, with the medical staff still needing to sign off. Injury analyst Jeff Stotts noted the fastest recovery from pinky surgery in the NBA since 2005 was 14 days. If Robinson plays Wednesday, it would be in the five-to-six-day range.
The basketball value at stake
Robinson’s offensive value has never been built around touch, ball screens that flip to jumpers or half-court creation. The question is whether he can rebound through traffic, catch in a crowd, finish through contact and keep his hand out of trouble against Victor Wembanyama’s length.
That is where the pinky becomes a basketball problem instead of a medical note. He averaged 5.7 points and 8.8 rebounds with 1.2 blocks in 19.6 minutes this season on 72.3% shooting, and the offensive-rebounding effect is the cleanest argument for having him available. New York’s offensive rebounding rate was 39.5% with Robinson on the floor and 29.8% without him during the regular season. The with-Robinson number tops the league-leading Houston Rockets at 38.8%; the without-Robinson number is roughly league average.
The Spurs make this harder
San Antonio’s frontcourt gives that formula a different stress test. Wembanyama pulls Karl-Anthony Towns into space, shoots over smaller defenders and forces help from angles most teams don’t have to map. If Robinson is limited or unavailable, New York’s backup-center minutes have to keep Towns from absorbing every difficult possession against Wembanyama and a Spurs front line that punished Oklahoma City on the glass through the West finals.
Ariel Hukporti is the next big body on the depth chart, but his postseason role has been thin. Asking him to step into Finals minutes against Wembanyama and San Antonio’s cutting guards would change the texture of the Knicks’ second unit. Going smaller would keep more skill on the floor and place more rebounding and rim protection on Towns, OG Anunoby, and the guards.
What the brace forces
Even if Robinson plays, the brace creates downstream questions: whether it limits his offensive rebounding rate, whether opponents target him for fouls late, and how he handles free throws with a braced shooting hand. New York led the league at 39.5% offensive rebounding with him; preserving even most of that is the reason to push the timeline.
Brown’s caution makes sense. The Knicks need to know whether Robinson can perform the specific jobs that made him valuable. If he can grab with two hands, hold ground, and finish short, the intended center structure holds. If he can’t, the series begins with New York needing to solve Wembanyama while also rewriting its backup-minute map.
The injury itself stays a mystery
Robinson played 18 minutes in Game 4 against Cleveland and finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds. Brown told reporters Friday that Robinson didn’t break the finger in that game or in any practice, dispelling speculation tied to broadcast video that showed him grabbing his hand after a rebound in the third quarter. Pressed for how it happened, a team spokesman said, “We’re not going to get into specifics.” Robinson, on Instagram, thanked supporters and sent a sharper message to people he felt had abandoned him during the recovery.
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