WASHINGTON – Knicks president Leon Rose paid a surprise visit to Washington on Friday night and took part in only his second road game, sitting next to the track just meters from senior vice president William Wesley.
Rose saw her Knicks win the battle against the Wizards in a 109-91 defeat, in an empty Capital One Arena, but they lost the war.
Knicks center-back Mitchell Robinson, after a 10-point, 14-rebound first half, left the game in the third quarter with X-rays that showed his right hand had fractured.
The Knicks, as they say, can’t get a break, losing their defensive center for weeks. This is a team with no margin for error.
“It was probably his best first half of the year for him,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
Robinson tried to block a shot, but collided with Julius Randle as he came down, with his hand hitting Randle’s elbow. Robinson started to shake his hand, but stayed in the game. He looked distressed when he failed miserably in two free throws – one that completely missed the edge.
“It’s very difficult, it will definitely be difficult without him,” Randle said.
Training staff showed a video of the play to Randle in the locker room after the game and spoke with Robinson.
“He’s in a very good mood,” Randle said. “Very positive. He will be there with us every step of the way. ”
Part of the Knicks ’relative success has been continuity and staying injury-free to key players. Now this has been shattered. They added Derrick Rose and he has easily adapted with games of 14 consecutive points. Rose has formed an electric tandem with rookie Immanuel Quickley as a safety track and has already helped the rookie Obi Toppin play.
They will now try to continue with another of Thibodeau’s favorites, Taj Gibson, who was signed last month as insurance, regaining Robinson’s composure. And this insurance may or may not pay.
The Post has learned that the Knicks are considering adding former 76ers blocking center Norvel Pelle (a poor man’s Robinson) to the front court, but Thibodeau wanted Gibson. Pelle is now with the Nets.
Gibson played Friday 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, while the Knicks jumped the Wizards, who played without Bradley Beal. While Rose stayed in her seat, she might have been figuring out what other centers could be there, with Nerlens Noel now headlining the Knicks. Noel has been a solid edge guard, but has also missed five games with a knee injury.
Thibodeau said he is in no hurry to add an older man. He hinted that the Knicks could also “stay small,” with the obvious possibility that Randle would move to center and Toppin get more minutes as he continues to develop.
In his lottery debutant battle with Israel’s Deni Avdija, Toppin was more efficient, with eight points on 4 for 5 shooting. Avdija also scored eight points, but was 1 on 5 in triples despite showing his fluid shot. The Knicks moved on to Avdija, who looks set to be the next Danilo Gallinari, when they drafted Toppin.
With the role of Toppin ready to rise, Thibodeau was careful not to offer a scenario at best, as the Knicks returned to New York to evaluate Robinson.
“I don’t want to speculate on anything,” Thibodeau said. “Once we get back to New York, we’ll get our documents fixed on it and we’ll know exactly what the time period is like. It’s going to be an estimate.”
The Knicks face the Rockets in the field on Saturday on the first day without Robinson, who had played all 27 games. In 11 days, the Garden will have some fans again, almost 2,000 per game from February 23 against the Warriors.
Earlier in the day, Randle talked about how the garden would be rocked again.
“Getting fans back in the garden, even in that amount, is amazing,” Randle said. “We’re very excited to have our fan base come to the game and experience the energy we’ve been feeling.”
Rocket defender John Wall, with his new team and new health, will visit a fan-free garden on Saturday. The Rockets have hosted limited fans, and even that is weird for Wall.
“The whole season is weird,” Wall said Thursday night. “It’s weird with COVID, trying every day, sometimes twice a day. Even the grounds with fans are different. You only see a few. It seems that you are with a bad team that only has 2,000 followers and the rest is not there “.
The Knicks had remained relatively free of any other COVID-19 issue other than Frank Ntilikina, who was out of rotation, leaving the team during this road trip due to contact tracking. They have now been hit by a casual play, leaving Robinson aside.
As Wall said, it is a new world. Arriving at Amtrak at Washington Union Station on Friday for the first road game of my season, I went outside and the pandemic hit hard again. Normally the line of a taxi is no less than 20 minutes, but on Friday there was no one outside Union Station, just a stream of depressing empty taxi drivers waiting in a ghost town.
Friday night there were no fans allowed in Washington and nothing is expected to change that. After Saturday’s game against the Rockets, there are still three garden contests left before the gates of the world’s most famous Arena actually reopen.
In 11 days, the sound of the ticket climbers will be music to the ears, but the Knicks will have to fight without their starting center.