The vibes should be immaculate again after the New York Knicks ended their West Coast trip with a huge 16-point comeback win in Portland and sole possession of the fifth seed once again.
Well, it doesn’t look like the case.
Starting Knicks center Mitchell Robinson stirred controversy after his confusing posts on his social media accounts.
On his Snapchat, Robinson posted, “Tired asf of just being out there for cardio fam like I want to play basketball to really just wasting my time and energy (emoji),” followed by “Disappearing for a while.”
Then on Twitter, he posted, “Life’s a climb but the views [are] great (emoji). Good night!”
His confusing posts came after a second straight game in which he averaged only three attempts and saw Knicks backup center Isaiah Hartenstein outplaying him. As a result, Hartenstein got rewarded with more playing time, especially down the stretch.
Robinson was limited to four points on 2 of 4 shooting and five rebounds in their 112-108 win against the Los Angeles Lakers. He and Hartenstein equally split the 48-minute playing time at the center spot but the latter closed out the game and had more impact.
Hartenstein did not score, missing two field goal attempts, but did what he’s supposed to do — grabbing 11 rebounds and laced it up with two assists, two steals, and a block. He was a game-high plus-19, while Robinson was a team-worst minus-15.
Against Jusuf Nurkic and the Trail Blazers, Hartenstein again was scoreless but ended up as plus-20 in 27 minutes with 11 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. Robinson had another disappointing night with only two points on two attempts, four rebounds, a steal, and a block in 21 minutes and a minus-4 on the plus-minus column.
However, after the win over the Lakers, Robinson made it clear that he was happy about Hartenstein’s recent success.
New York coach Tom Thibodeau has a penchant for rolling with the guys who are playing better and contributing to the team’s success. The Knicks are winning, and unless Robinson shapes up, Hartenstein will likely continue enjoying more floor time.
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