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The missed free throw — which Mitchell Robinson airballed in brutal fashion — immediately went viral on social media.
But his impact — which was pivotal to the Knicks’ 91-90 Game 2 win over the Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden — is what matters most.
Robinson has had a roller-coaster series through just two games.
The Celtics have hacked him in order to send him to the line and capitalize on his poor free-throw shooting — he is a combined 3-for-11 in the two games.
But outside of his free-throw shooting, he’s been one of the Knicks’ most effective contributors.
“He was a plus-19. All their starters were in the negative,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Robinson. “He’s good on both ends of the floor. He’s able to play by himself. He’s able to play double-big with [Karl-Anthony] Towns on the defensive end. His ability to protect the rim, his ability to get extra possessions, his screening, he was able to get [Mikal] Bridges some open looks last night with his ability to screen. He’s a huge factor to what they do. We gotta find ways to negate that.”
Beyond just stymying the Knicks offense by sending Robinson to the line, Mazzulla is fouling him in order to force the Knicks to sub him out altogether.
The Knicks outscored the Celtics by 19 points when Robinson was on the floor in Game 2.
The next closest was Miles McBride at plus-9.
Between the two games, the Knicks have outscored the Celtics by a combined 32 points with Robinson on the floor — by far the highest mark in the series.
His ability to guard one-through-five on the court has allowed the Knicks to switch on most screens, a new look they’ve thrown at the Celtics that they rarely used in the four regular-season matchups.
And when he plays alongside Towns in a two big man lineup, he helps mask Towns’ defensive shortcomings by serving as a rim protector.
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Robinson and Towns have played together for 9:08 in the two games.
The Knicks have outscored the Celtics 20-4 in that time.
“He’s got great feet and anticipation,” Thibodeau said of Robinson. “Not only his defense, but he’s very disciplined, learning how to become the second jumper. I think all those things helped eliminate the reckless fouls. He’s a hard guy to score over. Even if you score over him, it’s going to be a tough shot. I think he’s learned that. He doesn’t back down and those cheap fouls are gone.”
His foul shooting can be a rough watch. But Robinson doesn’t mind the strategy — he knows what it really means.
“I’m just saying, you trying to get me out the game,” Robinson said. “Why y’all want me out the game?”
