Mitchell Robinson closing in on return for banged-up Knicks

NEW YORK -- Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau gave his latest round of updates on his injured starting frontcourt -- forwards Julius Randle and OG Anunoby and center Mitchell Robinson -- before Monday night's 124-99 victoryat Madison Square Garden over the Detroit Pistons, and insinuated Robinson, who has been out since Dec. 8 following ankle surgery, will be the first of the trio to return.

"Mitchell is moving quite well," Thibodeau said during his pregame media session. "He's cleared for contact and all that. He's going through practices and so just needs a little more time. But he's doing really well overall."

When a reporter followed up by asking if that meant Robinson would return ahead of Anunoby and Randle -- both of whom had more mixed updates from Thibodeau -- the coach smiled and said, "Assuming your assumption is correct, yes."

Robinson hasn't played since a loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8. New York eventually filed for a disabled player exception, which the NBA grants if a player is unlikely to return this season, but when the procedural move was denied by the NBA in early January, it opened up the possibility that Robinson, arguably the league's best offensive rebounder, could come back at some point this season.

Now, it appears that return is imminent, and he will again form a potent 48-minute pairing at the pivot for the Knicks with Isaiah Hartenstein, who has been stellar in Robinson's place as a starter, averaging 8.2 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field.

Anunoby, meanwhile, participated in parts of shootaround Monday but missed his fourth consecutive game after his right (shooting) elbow flared up again after he played in three games following a six-week layoff for a procedure to remove a loose body from it.

Asked what sort of timeline there would be for the forward's return, Thibodeau declined to give a specific answer, saying that the elbow has to "settle down." The Knicks won 15 of their 17 games in which Anunoby played since being acquired from the Toronto Raptors at the start of 2024.

Most of the discussion, however, was reserved for Randle, the All-Star forward who has been out with a shoulder injury since taking an awkward fall against the Miami Heat on Jan. 27. Randle, who has regularly been working out hard before games, continues to be in the "controlled contact" portion of his rehabilitation process and has yet to advance to fully participating in live contact drills.

"He's feeling better, so that's a good sign," Thibodeau said. "He's ramped it up some. We'll see where it goes."

Asked whether he could envision a scenario in which Randle doesn't return at all, Thibodeau said there's a balance between doing the right thing for both the player and the team that has to be managed.

"It's both ways," he said. "It's what helps the team, and you don't want to put a player in harm's way, either. So it's like, 'OK, let's just take it day by day.' You guys know I don't do hypotheticals. So we're hopeful."

New York's victory over Detroit meant the Knicks (43-28) kept pace with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won at home against the Charlotte Hornets to remain a half-game ahead of the Knicks for third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Knicks' blowout victory was led by Donte DiVincenzo's career-high 40 points, including setting a franchise record with 11 made 3-pointers.

In a twist, DiVincenzo was being guarded by Evan Fournier, who New York had sent to Detroit prior to last month's trade deadline as part of a deal that brought Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks back to the Knicks -- and who previously held the mark, along with J.R. Smith, with 10.

DiVincenzo admitted the crowd getting behind him as the game went along to get the record actually made it more difficult to get it.

"Honestly, Jalen [Brunson] was like, 'Slow down,'" DiVincenzo said with a laugh. "That emotion where you get a sliver of space, and you've knocked down nine of them, 10 of them, and you need the last one, and the crowd as soon as you catch the ball, you can hear the crowd. ... In that moment, it ramps you up, and Jalen was like, 'Slow down, take your time and shoot the ball.'"

Speaking of Bogdanovic, Thibodeau said after the game that the veteran forward got "nicked up" against Detroit, though when asked for further information, he simply said Bogdanovic had "soreness."