Miami’s Duncan Robinson dribbled around a screen that created space and might have driven into the lane — but Karl-Anthony Towns loomed toward the top of the paint.
So he tried his second option, Bam Adebayo rolling off that screen and toward the hoop.
Robinson passed to Adebayo, who came to a stop just inside the free-throw line because Towns jumped onto him and Mitchell Robinson loomed behind.
With nowhere to go, Adebayo tried for a cutting Kel’el Ware, but Robinson’s long arms knocked the ball away for one of the Knicks’ 12 steals on the night.
“When you have two 7-footers out there,” head coach Tom Thibodeau would say later, “if you get by one, you’ve got another waiting at the rim.
“I think that has a huge impact on the game.”
Eight games into his season, Robinson’s impact has begun being felt.
Among several positive developments from Monday’s win over the Heat was Robinson playing 20 minutes in a game for the first time this season.
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Off the court for about 10 months following ankle surgery, the defensively excellent center has begun looking like himself.
In his 23:43 of court time Monday, Robinson did a little bit of everything on a night in which he scored 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting with nine rebounds (five offensive), two steals, two blocks and an assist.
Less concrete was the number of Heat drives he canceled with his presence.
“I think the rim protection,” Thibodeau said in beginning his lengthy list of encouraging signs from Robinson, “his ability to get out on the perimeter, defend pick-and-rolls, challenge shots, cover a lot of ground and make a second or third effort to be up on a pick-and-roll and still get back to rebound and change shots. You’re seeing more and more multiple-effort plays from him. I think his timing is coming around.
“He’s moving great. He feels great.”
That last part might be most important. Robinson has been rehabbing injuries repeatedly since 2021, from hand and foot fractures to ankle surgeries that have limited him to 98 games over the past three seasons.
He is building up slowly following the left ankle surgery in May that was characterized as “small” and yet kept him out of action until late February.
At an opportune time — without Jalen Brunson and while the Knicks are testing ways to win without their captain — Robinson has begun getting a longer run.
“I feel good,” Robinson said Monday. “Finally getting the rhythm back a little bit.”
He looks more comfortable, which has given the Knicks different ways to succeed.
At his best, Robinson defends and springs and lunges for every loose ball. In the very small sample size thus far this season, his 8.4 offensive rebounds per 100 possessions started play Tuesday as the sixth most in the NBA.
And his pairing with Towns is one of the more intriguing developments of the final weeks of the regular season.
The two had not played together, but Towns looked natural alongside another 7-footer in Rudy Gobert, that pairing taking the Timberwolves last year to the Western Conference finals.
With Towns at the 4 and Robinson helping everywhere defensively, the combination has played just 19 minutes — but they have been 19 encouraging minutes.
During their time together, the Knicks offense has an offensive rating of 145.9 (which measures a team’s points per 100 possessions) and a defensive rating of 100.
Robinson acknowledged that in the early games “we just got to build trust” as the duo learns to play with each other.
It is possible, though, the team’s backcourt already trusts the adapting frontcourt, and Knicks guards and wings were free to hound Heat guards and wings Monday.
If there are a pair of 7-foot safety nets behind you, you can play with more aggression, which helped force 20 Miami turnovers.
“When OG [Anunoby is] on the frontline with them also,” Thibodeau added, “he’s just so long.
“The basket’s protected.”
Robinson is still coming off the bench, and his availability will be worth monitoring the next two days as the Knicks visit San Antonio and Charlotte.
Robinson has yet to play in both ends of a back-to-back.
When he is on the court, though, he has looked like Mitchell Robinson.
“I thought the defense was terrific,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Mitch was a huge factor.”