INDIANAPOLIS — A long and arduous road back for Mitchell Robinson led him all the way back to the Knicks’ starting lineup in the Eastern Conference finals.
It made the way it all ended Saturday that much more painful.
“S–tty, bro. Like s–t,” Robinson described his feelings at his locker following the Knicks’ season-ending 125-108 loss to the Pacers in Game 6. “I don’t even got words, to be honest with you.
“Obviously, I didn’t play the full year, came back in, what, late February, March and grinded the whole time all the way up to this point.
“I’m happy that we got this far, but I don’t know, man. We gave away two [games] at home early, then we were playing out of a hole, and you can’t do that.”
Robinson missed the first four months of the regular season following surgery to repair an ankle injury suffered in last year’s playoffs.
The longest-tenured Knick returned to the starting lineup in Memphis on Feb. 28, and he appeared in 17 regular-season games and all 18 in three rounds of the playoffs.
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With the starting unit struggling defensively at the start of games, Robinson finally was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Karl-Anthony Towns in Game 3 against the Pacers, with Josh Hart moving to a reserve role.
The 7-foot Robinson provided eight points on 4-for-4 shooting with nine rebounds and two blocked shots in Game 6, with five of those boards coming on the offensive end, all in the first half.
He didn’t have as much of a two-way impact in the second half, however, and admitted he “should’ve kept my energy up, but I feel like I didn’t play to my full potential.”
Still, Robinson’s unique ability to provide extra possessions for the Knicks on the offensive end helped keep them within four points at halftime despite slow starts by Towns and Jalen Brunson.
Asked before the game if he still considers himself the best offensive rebounder in the NBA, Robinson replied “of course” and “[I] still am.”
The 27-year-old Robinson, who was drafted by the Knicks in the second round in 2018, has one year remaining on the four-year, $60 million extension he signed in 2022.
