The New York Knicks could play Game 4 of their series against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs without one of their more important players in big man Mitchell Robinson after he suffered an apparent ankle injury during the first half of Thursday night’s Game 3.
The injury happened when 76ers star center Joel Embiid grabbed Robinson’s leg for which he was called for a flagrant-1 foul.
Robinson would later exit the contest with a sprained ankle and was seen wearing a walking boot.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid Explains Flagrant Foul on Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson
After the game, Embiid shed light on why he held on to Robinson’s ankle, saying that he was worried about Robinson hitting his knee the way it got hit by Golden State Warriors power forward Jonathan Kuminga during a game late last January. It can be recalled that Embiid had to undergo surgery in his knee and missed several games after that meeting with the Dubs.
Via PHLY Sixers:
Embiid said he had flashbacks of Jonathan Kuminga falling on his knee earlier this season when he committed the flagrant foul on Robinson in the first half.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. In those situations, I got to protect myself, because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m always the recipient of the bad end of it. It was unfortunate”
If Robinson ended up missing Game 4, the Knicks would then be down one key weapon to use against Embiid, who went off for 50 points in Game 3.
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