Mitchell Robinson didn’t shy away or mince words. He knows exactly what’s in store for the Knicks’ first-round series against the Pistons.
And, importantly, his role in all of it.
“It’s going to be a dirty series,” Robinson said after practice Thursday. “We’re going to get out there and fight. That’s the biggest part about it. Physicality with Detroit and us. It’s something we just have to bring.”
The Pistons, who enjoyed a dramatic turnaround this year after winning an NBA-worst 14 games last year, have developed a reputation as one of the league’s more physical and tough teams. Much of that stems from big men Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart.
Robinson is set to battle inside with both.
Stewart in particular has emerged as a notorious instigator and rabble-rouser, never shying away from a fight and constantly toeing the line between playing hard and playing dirty.
He was suspended two games earlier this year for his role in a brawl between the Pistons and Timberwolves.
His four flagrant fouls were tied for second most in the league, and his 14 technical fouls were third most. He was ejected from three games, tied for the most in the league.
It’s not hard to envision Stewart throwing an elbow or shoulder into Robinson or Karl-Anthony Towns and trying to drag them into the mud or get under their skin. And the Knicks’ lack of depth has been a talking point all season — they can ill afford to lose anyone to a silly ejection or suspension.
“Just be smart,” Robinson said of combatting Stewart’s antics. “That’s really all it is. Be physical, be smart and play basketball.”
That goes both ways — Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has cautioned his team, and especially Stewart, about not letting their style of play end up costing them.
“It’s important for us to be physical but not emotional,” Bickerstaff said Thursday on SiriusXM NBA radio with Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine. “I think that’s the difference. We’re going to be physical. There’s gonna be some dust-ups, there’s gonna be some interactions. That’s just the way it is when we show up in the building. But we can’t allow the emotion to get the best of us where for three minutes we’re outside of ourselves, now we allow them to go on an 8-0 run. I think it’s very important for us to not change who we are, but at the same time just make sure that we keep our emotions intact and go out and be able to play and execute through all the physicality.”
Last year, Robinson notably got into a few altercations with Joel Embiid during the Knicks’ first-round series against the 76ers, which included drawing Embiid into a Flagrant 1 foul in Game 3 — which many thought should have been a Flagrant 2 and ejection.
The Knicks lost much of their muscle and snarl from last year when Isaiah Hartenstein left in free agency. Now, Robinson is perhaps the best suited on the roster to impose his size and strength and combat the Pistons’ nastiness.
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There’s no track record of how Robinson will deal with this version of the Pistons, though, as he missed all four regular-season matchups — in which the Knicks went 1-3.
“It is weird because they don’t know me, I don’t know them,” Robinson said. “All I know is the film and the books that we get, stuff like that. Just going in there to fight and compete.”
Robinson missed most of the season while recovering from offseason ankle surgery, returned in February and played 17 games.
He averaged 5.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game — all of which would represent career lows. He did not play any back-to-backs.
But despite his slow ramp-up, he’s been happy with his conditioning.
Robinson made it a point in his rehab to eat better and lose weight to be able to play for longer stretches of time. Previously weighing over 290 pounds, Robinson said Thursday he’s around 269 pounds.
“That s–t was heavy as hell,” Robinson said. “I just played a full quarter in one of the games. Only been back for a month and two weeks maybe. To go in and all the work that I put in to be able to do that, that just showed a lot. How much time I put into the conditioning and all that. After games, before games and all that.”
