Key Points
- Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has a broken right pinky finger and no timetable for return, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Thursday
- Robinson averaged 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks on 73.7% shooting in 14.2 minutes per playoff game
- Surgery decision is pending; pinky-fracture recovery varies widely between non-operative and surgical cases
- NBA Finals Game 1 is Wednesday, June 3 — six days from the report
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has a broken right pinky finger and no timetable for his return, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Thursday. The team has not announced when Robinson was injured or whether he will need surgery. New York opens the NBA Finals against the Western Conference champion next Wednesday, June 3, at Madison Square Garden — six days from the report.
What Robinson does for the Knicks
Robinson is not a featured scorer. He is the rotation's primary rim protector and offensive rebounder, averaging 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks on 73.7% shooting across 14.2 minutes per playoff game. In Monday's Game 4 sweep of Cleveland that sent the Knicks to their first Finals since 1999, he posted 8 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes — his most minutes in any game of the playoff run.
The recovery math
Pinky fractures vary widely in recovery time depending on whether surgery is required. Game 1 is six days from Thursday. A non-operative case could plausibly have Robinson back in the series; a surgical case likely keeps him out for most or all of it.
The backup question
If Robinson cannot go, the next center off the bench is second-year Ariel Hukporti, who started just five games in the regular season and has played sparingly in the postseason. New York can also push Karl-Anthony Towns to the five full-time in a smaller, more offense-tilted lineup that gives back the rim protection Robinson provides.
What we still don't know
The team has not yet said whether Robinson will be evaluated for surgery, whether he will travel for the Finals, or when the injury occurred. Charania reported only the fracture and the no-timetable status. The Knicks have been off since Monday's sweep, which is enough rest to mask the injury date — whether Robinson hurt the pinky in Game 4 against Cleveland, in practice this week, or somewhere in between is not yet public. Robinson has since filled in that timeline himself, saying the pre-Finals hand injury followed his brother's car crash.
Source: ESPN. Additional reporting via CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated.
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