INDIANAPOLIS — It’s hard to be surprised by Mitchell Robinson’s rebounding prowess at this point. It’s a recurring theme.
But even for him, this was a special performance.
He recorded a career-high 22 rebounds in the Knicks’ 101-92 win over the Pacers Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Nine of them were on the offensive glass.
Perhaps just as important, though, he played 31 minutes, his biggest workload of the season.
“It definitely feels good,” Robinson told The Post. “First time playing 30 minutes. Just getting out there and playing like that, to see the buildup, all the hard work I put in with this plan.”
Robinson has already played more games than either of the past two seasons. The Knicks’ load management plan for him — not playing both legs of back-to-backs, and at times sitting non back-to-back games — has clearly worked, even it’s been frustrating at times.
His workloads are only increasing. That’s a good development for the Knicks heading into the playoffs.
“It’s obviously shown that it’s paid off,” coach Mike Brown told The Post, “because of his ability to, knock on wood, stay on the floor and play in games and play the minutes he played tonight.”
Beyond Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns both missing Friday’s game due to knee soreness, Jeremy Sochan was out due to illness.
Pacome Dadiet, with the Knicks shorthanded, got very rare non-blowout minutes. In fact, Dadiet, along with Ariel Hukporti, came in together as Brown’s first subs of the game in the first quarter.
Dadiet promptly drilled a 30-foot 3-pointer from the logo as the shot clock expired in the first quarter. He also got a brief stretch of action in the third quarter.
