‘Hack-a-Mitch’ strategy backfires on Ollie’s crew

Just as he did last year in the playoffs against the Heat, Mitchell Robinson mostly thwarted the Nets’ “Hack-a-Mitch” strategy Friday night.

Robinson, a 56-percent free-throw shooter this season, sank five of eight over the final minutes to help secure the Knicks’ 111-107 win over the Nets.

“It felt great. Me missing all the games and that,” Robinson said. “I’ve been focusing on my free throws. It just paid off tonight.

“I feel like I’m headed in the right direction. A couple things I still have to work on. Conditioning is the biggest one. Timing. Stuff like that.”

Robinson had been averaging 15.3 minutes in eight appearances since returning March 27th from December ankle surgery.

But with Isaiah Hartenstein sitting out for Achilles maintenance, Robinson played 25 minutes Friday night, including the entire fourth quarter.

“Mitch makes plays that no one else can just in terms of impacting shots, pick and roll coverage. So I thought he was terrific,” Thibodeau said. “Mitch can cover a lot of ground and I thought that was huge for us.”

➤ Hartenstein played 33 minutes in Thursday’s win against Boston, his most since Feb. 6 before he missed multiple games leading into the All-Star break due to the injury.

“Just management, just where we are with everything,” Tom Thibodeau said. “It was just a back-toback, but he’s been around the 30-minute mark. We had a guy at the scorer’s table to [take him out], but the game didn’t stop. It is what it is.”

Asked if he expects Hartenstein’s recent minutes restriction to carry over into the playoffs next week, Thibodeau replied, “that’s a medical question.”

➤ Miles McBride also was sidelined with a nonCOVID illness . ... Jericho Sims started at center and scored two points with four rebounds in 23 minutes.