The Knicks’ first game following Mitchell Robinson’s thumb surgery didn’t go well on defense Friday night at Atlanta, but it offered a glimpse at their thinking regarding the center position in his absence.
Jericho Sims didn’t play a minute for five consecutive games until Robinson was injured Wednesday in the first quarter of a home loss to the Wizards, but the second-year big man moved into the starting lineup and logged a season-high 28 minutes Friday in a 139-124 loss to the Hawks.
Backup center Isaiah Hartenstein remained on the second unit, scoring two points in 17 minutes.
“We’ve gone back and forth. I feel good about both guys. Part of it was to try to keep some rhythm with the second unit,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the loss Friday, the Knicks’ third in a row entering their visit to Toronto on Sunday. “Part of it is you want both groups to function well. What gives us the best chance to win? It may change based on matchups. We just liked the way that was going to flow for us.”
Barring a frontcourt addition ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline, Thibodeau said the two centers are “probably going to play the same” minutes with Robinson sidelined for the next several weeks, with the possibility of also using Julius Randle at center occasionally in a smaller lineup.
Sims finished with 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting Friday and grabbed eight rebounds with two steals. He had been used as the second-unit power forward alongside Hartenstein while Obi Toppin was sidelined for more than a month with a leg injury, but Sims then was dropped from the rotation once Toppin returned to the lineup Jan. 9.
“I feel pretty good about it. Time will tell. I think I’m going to get better from here,” Sims said after the game. “Just keep on bringing energy, effort.”
Sims’ profile at both ends of the floor is more similar to Robinson’s than that of Hartenstein, who was signed to a two-year contract worth $16 million as a free agent last summer. Hartenstein was billed as a passing big man capable of hitting shots from 3-point range after connecting on 62.6 percent of his field-goal attempts and 46.7 percent from long distance last season with the Clippers.
But Hartenstein’s career-low 48.8 shooting percentage in 18.5 minutes per game through 47 appearances (seven starts) include just eight made 3-pointers in 33 attempts this season (24.2 percent).
“I think there was certain stuff where I probably missed [shots] I normally make, and I think that might help me just get back in rhythm,” Hartenstein said Friday. “Some stuff is on me. Some stuff is just maybe I haven’t found the rhythm or the shots I normally get.
“It’s all stuff I normally make, so I think there was some maybe mental part where I was maybe a little frustrated, but then I just gotta control what I can control and it’ll come back.”
Thibodeau was unhappy with his team’s overall lack of defensive intensity Friday night without Robinson, who ranks fifth in the NBA with 1.8 blocked shots per game. But he believes Sims and Hartenstein can do the job at the defensive end.
“The rim protection for both is excellent,” Thibodeau said. “We don’t have to change. Jericho and Isaiah have been in the rotation, and that was one of the things that stood out when we were acquiring those guys was the rim protection. We felt both were capable.
“That’s an important part of today’s NBA. What Jericho gives you is a little more versatility with his feet. Isaiah, the look is different because it opens up the floor and pulls people away from the basket.”