Mitchell Robinson steps up as Knicks, Warriors battle injuries

The New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors are dealing with a spate of injuries as the NBA regular season winds down.

But the Knicks also are getting a glimpse at an oft-injured player who could be a key factor in a playoff push later this spring.

The Knicks will begin a two-game homestand Sunday night when they host the slumping Warriors in their final clash of the regular season.

Both squads were off Saturday after playing Friday night, when the visiting Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 101-92 and the host Warriors fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 127-117.

The Knicks won despite the absence of starters Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns, each of whom was sidelined with knee injuries. But Mitchell Robinson, who has been limited to 97 regular-season games the last three seasons due to chronic left ankle woes, helped pick up the slack by scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 22 rebounds over a season-high 31 minutes.

It was the fifth career 20-rebound game for Robinson, who hadn't logged 30-plus minutes since April 11, 2025, when he played 32-plus minutes in a 108-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Robinson didn't play 30 minutes in any of the Knicks' 18 playoff games last spring when they reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.

The strong performance was another indication the Knicks could be rewarded by their careful management of Robinson, who has yet to play more than six straight games this season and has sat out eight of New York's 34 games since Jan. 1.

New York entered Saturday in third place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the second-place Boston Celtics and 4 1/2 games clear of the Miami Heat for the sixth and final playoff spot.

"It's obviously shown that it's paid off because of his ability to, knock on wood, stay on the floor and play in games and play the minutes he played tonight," Knicks head coach Mike Brown told The New York Post on Friday night.

Finding enough healthy players to put on the floor is becoming a challenge for the Warriors, who are all but locked into the play-in tournament after losing four straight and 15 of their last 22.

Golden State sits in ninth place in the Western Conference, nine games ahead of the 11th-place Memphis Grizzlies but eight games behind the sixth-place Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets entering Saturday.

The Warriors, who lost Jimmy Butler to a season-ending ACL injury Jan. 19 and have played the last 16 games without superstar shooting guard Stephen Curry, saw four more key players get hurt before and during Friday's loss.

Draymond Green was a late scratch due to a stiff lower back while Al Horford exited in the first quarter with a tight right calf. Seth Curry, the younger brother of Stephen, left with a sore left adductor while Quinten Post suffered a sprained left ankle.

"We're going through it," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "We're about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember."