Knicks Mitchell Robinson not ruled out for Hornets game for injury management yet

SAN ANTONIO — Other than missing Jalen Brunson, the Knicks were at full strength for Wednesday’s 120-105 loss to the Spurs.That’s because Mitchell Robinson, who had been listed as questionable with “injury management,” was declared available and scored 13 points with 11 boards off the bench.Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t rule out Robinson for Thursday against the Hornets, but the center previously sat one game of a back-to-back set earlier this month against the Lakers.“We’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow,” Thibodeau said of the Charlotte game.“We’re just dealing with today, today.”Logic suggests Robinson won’t be thrust into a back-to-back.

The plan with the 26-year-old, who hadn’t played in 10 months before returning from ankle surgery on the last day of February, was always to ramp up his conditioning and plot a course for playoff health while operating on a minutes restriction.So if he plays in Charlotte, it would be surprising.The Knicks have four more back-to-back sets this season, including next week against the Mavericks (Tuesday) and Clippers (Wednesday).Thibodeau said Robinson is operating with a “guideline” of about 24 minutes and that will “probably increase some.”In San Antonio on Wednesday, Robinson logged 17 minutes with 13 points and 11 boards — including a heavier dose alongside Karl-Anthony Towns in a Two Towers alignment — but the Knicks were outrebounded overall, 52-44.Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! “It’s something we got to work on,” Robinson said.Obviously rebounding is a big part of the game.

So we didn’t rebound that well and the shots didn’t go in.We just got to fix it.”Talk about a rollercoaster.Josh Hart went from no points on...