Fouling Mitchell Robinson isn’t just a smart move for the Celtics. It’s a sign of respect

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BOSTON — To understand how important Mitchell Robinson has been to the New York Knicks’ success, look no further than this stat: The big man made 3 of 10 free throws in Monday’s Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics.

The attempts tell the story. The makes provide a bit of a dilemma.

Boston, like the Detroit Pistons in the first round, intentionally fouled Robinson. Why? His minutes, when teams aren’t deploying “Hack-A-Mitch,” have been superb at times throughout this postseason.

In Game 6 of a first-round series against the Pistons, Robinson was grabbing rebounds, deterring shots and putting the Knicks in a position to play fast. Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff then signaled for his team to foul Robinson, a smart move on the Pistons’ part. It got Robinson off the floor as he hit just 3 of 7 from the charity stripe, forced some empty possessions for the Knicks and played a part in Detroit pulling out a win as a good defender watched from the bench. Robinson was a team-high plus-9 in that game.

Against the Celtics, Robinson’s presence was feared. After all, Boston was able to get out to a 20-point lead against New York in large part due to their offensive rebounding and second-chance points. Having Robinson on the floor would negate such opportunities.

“I think he was a plus-13 when on the floor,” New York head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Robinson being intentionally fouled. “The reason they’re doing it is to try and get him off the floor. He gives us the ability to switch more but also rim protect and rebound. If they’re not in the penalty, then we can lean on him and go from there.”

The dilemma Thibodeau faces is that he, too, understands the importance of Robinson. However, he has to second-guess playing Robinson in the game’s most critical minutes. Monday night won’t be the last time this strategy is deployed.

Payton Pritchard intentionally fouls Mitchell Robinson for a Hack-A-Mitch, even Jayson Tatum points at the foul, so the referees would see.
The referees called for And-1 by Jalen Brunson instead, but they went to review it. No basket for Brunson, and 2 free throws for Robinson. pic.twitter.com/unfP8ns2fM

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 6, 2025

Robinson missed the majority of the season after suffering multiple foot/ankle injuries last year. His season debut wasn’t until March. New York, while relatively healthy for most of the season, didn’t have its best rim protector, who also is a versatile defender and offensive-rebounding wizard. What Robinson provides was sorely missed at times throughout the regular season for the Knicks.

The irony in all of this is that Robinson had his best free-throw shooting season as a pro this year — albeit a very small sample size. He was a hair under 70 percent from the line in 17 regular-season games. That was a positive development for someone who spent the previous four seasons converting on less than 50 percent of his attempts. It was only 17 games, so who knows how that would have changed over a wider schedule for Robinson. Yet, it was clear that he spent some of his down time trying to improve his free-throw shooting.

“He knows how important he is to this team,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said before Game 6 in Detroit. “I don’t know what the numbers are, but from my perception, he’s been shooting free throws very well. If they’re going to do that, let them do that. We’ll get stops. He’s so important to us defensively. Even if he makes one out of two, if we get five stops in a row and they foul him five times in a row and he makes five free throws, then we’re a plus-5. We got faith in him on both sides of the court.”

For many outside observers, the simple solution is this: Make your free throws. And, of course, those people would be correct. There’s this narrative that all professional basketball players should be, at the very least, decent free-throw shooters. However, there are too many examples of players, particularly big men, who can never figure it out. That, too, is understandable. Prior to getting to the NBA, when did the 7-foot, 240-pound Robinson ever need a shooting touch? He was always bigger, longer and stronger than everyone he faced. Why work on the shot when the rim is always within striking distance? He should make his free throws, but what’s leading to the free throws is more important.

Maybe down the line, Robinson will pull out the granny-style free throws. Rick Barry will be proud. Robinson can’t change things now, in the middle of the postseason. If anything, maybe this postseason will serve as a reminder that he needs to do something differently this offseason as it pertains to his free-throw shooting.

For now, though, Robinson needs to continue to do what he’s done throughout the course of the game. The Knicks need his rebounding. The Knicks need his rim protection. They need his size. The other teams, clearly, would rather have the alternative on the court.

Robinson will find himself in a jam going forward if he doesn’t start making free throws. Thibodeau will have tough decisions to make. However, none of this is even a conversation if Robinson isn’t impacting the game like he has been.

Fouling Robinson is the ultimate sign of respect.

(Photo of Mitchell Robinson: Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images) 

This news was originally published on this post .

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