The New York Knicks are currently missing two key pieces. They are also in all likelihood the two best defensive players on the squad. OG Anunoby is out with what the team is calling a sprained foot. Mitchell Robinson has not played all season as he has been recovering from ankle surgery. A Knicks injury update was provided on Saturday, and it shouldn’t be much longer before both are again seen donning the New York jersey.
Knicks Injury Update On 2 Key Players Provided By Shams
Knicks Injury Update On OG Anunoby And Mitchell Robinson
On Saturday, the Knicks faced off against the Boston Celtics on ABC. Prior to the game, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania spoke on air and provided an update on the Knicks two injured players. Charania stated that Anunoby’s injury seems to be with his toe, rather than his foot. He listed his return as after the All-Star break. For Robinson, Charania stated that the Knicks are targeting a March 1 return for the big man.
Reporting for ABC NBA Countdown on two key injured New York Knicks, Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby: pic.twitter.com/GhRaaLtR7z
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Those timetables would keep the Knicks two defensive stalwarts off the court not much longer. All-Star Weekend is this upcoming weekend. New York only has two games (Tuesday at Indiana Pacers, Wednesday vs. Atlanta Hawks) before the break. They will then return to action on Thursday, February 20 at home against the Chicago Bulls. After those three outings, they play four more prior to a road game on Sunday, March 2 against the Miami Heat. That would be the goal (according to Charania) of when Robinson would be able to return to play.
The 27-year-old Anunoby has been injury-prone at times, but that wasn’t the case this year up until his recent injury. He appeared and started in each of the Knicks first 49 games in 2024-25. An All-Defensive Second Team member in 2022-23 with the Toronto Raptors, Anunoby was trending towards another All-Defensive appearance. If he does return to the court soon, the opportunity is still there for him to reach the 65-game minimum threshold to be eligible.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has always loves his rim-protecting centers, which is why the team not having Robinson has been huge. As good as Karl-Anthony Towns has been, he’s not providing the impact on defense that the 26-year-old Robinson can. Towns has often found himself in foul trouble, which was a bugaboo to begin Robinson’s career, but one that he has fixed. The 7-foot center has become one of the best offensive rebounders in the game and is easily the team’s best shot blocker.
Could Karl-Anthony Towns Start Playing the 4 More?
The Knicks could have certainly used both players on Saturday, although the final result likely wouldn’t have changed. For the second straight time this season, the Boston Celtics easily handled New York. Sometimes a team doesn’t match up well against another, and that looks like the Knicks against Boston. The Celtics connected on 19 three-pointers Saturday and made an NBA record-tying 29 against New York in the season opener. The Knicks are dead-last in three-point percentage allowed.
With the game mostly out of hand, Thibodeau used a lineup that potentially could be a harbinger of things to come. For a few minutes, he slid Towns over to power forward, playing him with center Ariel Hukporti. Will Towns continue to play the four once Robinson returns? Towns is used to the position, as he has played there much of the previous two seasons for the Minnesota Timberwolves after they traded for Rudy Gobert.
Photo credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The post Knicks Injury Update On 2 Key Players Provided By Shams appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.