New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson sustained a fracture to his right pinky finger during the past week, with no established timeline for his return to action, multiple sources reported Thursday.
The Knicks are set to compete in the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years, with their championship series beginning Wednesday against whichever team emerges from the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City holds a 3-2 advantage over host San Antonio in their best-of-seven series, with Thursday night’s game potentially deciding the matchup.
The 28-year-old Robinson contributed eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds during 18 minutes of action in New York’s dominant 130-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at their home court in Game 4 on Monday, completing a sweep that secured the Eastern Conference title.
The circumstances and exact timing of Robinson’s injury remain unknown, according to the reports.
Serving as the primary backup to six-time All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, Robinson has posted averages of 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes per contest while connecting on a league-best 73.7% of his field goal attempts (28 of 38) across 13 playoff appearances as a reserve player. His free-throw shooting has been problematic, however, as he has converted just 13 of 43 attempts for a 30.2% success rate.
Throughout the regular season, Robinson compiled averages of 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 19.6 minutes across 60 games with 16 starts, earning an eighth-place finish in NBA Sixth Man of the Year award voting.
Second-year player Ariel Hukporti serves as New York’s third-string center option. The 7-footer appeared in 54 regular-season contests with five starts and averaged 2.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 9.2 minutes.
Over his professional career, Robinson has averaged 7.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 23.4 minutes across 397 regular-season appearances with 215 starts.
Robinson holds the distinction of being the longest-tenured player on the Knicks roster, having been chosen by New York in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft following his time at Western Kentucky.
