CLEVELAND — Mitchell Robinson sat back in the chair, admiring the work. Box score in hand, he whistled to emphasize the impressiveness.
Catcalling his own rebounds, essentially.
“Eleven offensive,” he told teammate RJ Barrett just seconds earlier, hamming it up for the assembled media.
“This whole series was about getting rebounds and stuff like that,” the center added. “Whoever gets the most rebounds wins the game nine times out of 10.”
That’s a bit of an exaggeration but it certainly carried round 1 against the Cavaliers. And Robinson, the 7-foot-1 pogostick, emerged as the difference maker.
A breakout force.
Facing two All-Defense players in Cleveland’s frontcourt, Robinson controlled the glass in a way that deflated hopes and dreams.
Many strong Cavs defensive efforts died in the hands of Robinson, who grabbed nearly double the offensive rebounds (29) than anybody else in the series.
Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley were utterly and embarrassingly outmatched, a duo that entered the series hyped as anchors but provided the resistance of a wet paper bag.
“Even for me, the lights were brighter than expected,” Allen acknowledged Thursday, a day after Cleveland’s final defeat.
The performances gave credence to Tom Thibodeau’s claims of Robinson being the top offensive rebounder in the NBA, which was echoed with an explanation by Isaiah Hartenstein.
“What makes him special is he can still move,” Hartenstein said. “You look at guys like Steven Adams, they’re good offensive rebounders. But with (Mitch), what makes him hard to box out is that he’s physical but can still move around guys and has the length to get the offensive rebounds. I’ve experienced it in practice so that’s what makes it the most difficult, to be honest.”
Robinson had an easy explanation for his growth.
“I just stopped fouling,” he said.
Indeed, Robinson has learned to stay on the court. His blocks per game has suffered because he’s taking less risks challenging shots, but the foul outs were largely eliminated.
In the next round — which begins Sunday afternoon at MSG — the Heat represent a different challenge for Robinson. Miami is undersized but experienced and well-conditioned, with Bam Adebayo in the middle as one of the NBA’s elite centers and Kevin Love at power forward as a crafty rebounder. It’ll be tough for Robinson to duplicate the production of the Cleveland series, but Robinson has already shown he’s capable of pleasant surprises in his first ever playoffs.
“He’s been unbelievable at [rebounding]. Throughout this series, it probably got even better,” Jalen Brunson said. “The way he was able to do that was a huge plus for our team. But Mitch, he’s a goofy kid, first of all. But when he’s out there, he’s just relentless.”
JERICHO SURGERY
Jericho Sims underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and cuff tendon in his right shoulder, the team announced Thursday, ending any hopes of the backup center returning for the playoffs.
Sims, 24, was out of the rotation but might’ve had a chance to play in the Miami series given the uncertain status of Julius Randle, who reaggravated a sprained ankle Wednesday.
Sims, who is signed next season at $1.9 million, will be ready for the start of training camp, the Knicks said.
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