Moving on has been New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson’s M.O. since his Snapchat rant.
After the Knicks let Taurean Prince become King of New York for one night, Robinson shifts his focus to the Miami Heat, who they face next on the road come Wednesday.
“[Minnesota] made a lot of shots,” said Robinson after the Knicks’ 140-134 loss to the Timberwolves on Monday night. We just gotta close out better.
“One of the guys went eight for eight. We just got to play better defense. I mean, it happens. They’re Pros too! We’re just gonna live, learn and continue to work and get ready for the next game.”
Prince led the shorthanded Timberwolves with 35 points on a 12 of 13 shooting night, including the perfect 8 from behind the arc. He became the first player in NBA history to end a game with 30+ points, 8+ 3s, and a field goal percentage of 90.0% or higher.
A scoreless Robinson, who missed his only field goal attempt, wasn’t grumpy about his lack of offensive role this time, but he took offense when a reporter asked why they seemed to be a step behind on defense, leading to Prince and the Timberwolves hot shooting night.
“I’ve got two blocks. I’ve got some deflections,” Robinson countered. “Like I said, they’re Pros. They’re gonna make shots. It happens.”
Robinson added nine rebounds and two steals. He and his backup Isaiah Hartenstein were the only Knicks players who ended up neither on the positive nor negative column of plus-minus.
The Timberwolves made the Knicks pay for their lackadaisical defense, with seven players scoring in double figures despite missing their top two stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Overall, Minnesota shot a scorching 61.4% shooting from the field, including 14 of 24 from behind the arc.
Robinson sees no point in dwelling on this loss that flushed Julius Randle’s historic 57-point game down the drain.
“We worry about just playing Miami,” Robinson said. That’s our next step. So, I mean [Monday] is done. You can’t bring it back or rewind it so I just live on and move on.”
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