Mitchell Robinsons Knicks return comes with solid play and smooth dunk

MEMPHIS — Mitchell Robinson’s long-awaited return was about as promising as the Knicks could’ve envisioned.After roughly 10 months on the shelf, the longest-tenured Knick logged 12 minutes with six points and five boards in a thrilling 114-113 victory Friday night.Robinson, who hadn’t played since undergoing ankle surgery in May, was called into action earlier than planned because of foul trouble to Karl-Anthony Towns.He responded in the first shift with a driving dunk and a left-handed finish in the post.“You saw that, huh? It was smooth,” Robinson said of his dunk.

“I mean, that’s something we’ve been working on through the whole rehab process.I felt comfortable doing it.”Robinson’s return coincided with the Knicks in desperate need for frontcourt and defensive help, with just one other natural center on the roster — Towns — and injuries starting to pile up as the season approaches the final quarter pole.The expectation is that Robinson will operate under a minutes restriction in hopes of staying healthy and peaking for the playoffs.

He said the limit Friday night was 18, but he only managed 12, eating up a lot of the time designated lately for Precious Achiuwa, who only played four minutes against the Grizzlies.Tom Thibodeau said he was impressed as the Knicks outscored the Grizzlies by 11 points with Robinson on the court.“For the first game back, for the amount of time he’s been out, I thought it was really good,” the coach said.

“We’ve been seeing it in practice, this was the next step, the pick-and-roll defense, the rim protection, the rebounding, he made a lot of good plays, just moving on penetration, pressure on the rim offensively, it opens up space for us.It’s really a game of space, so the more you can create space, the better your offense is going to be.”Robinson has less than two months to develop chemistry with new teammates, regain his defensive rhythm and, perhaps most importantly given Robinson’s histo...