Mitchell Robinson has big night in San Antonio after he is removed from Knicks’ starting lineup

SAN ANTONIO – A move to the bench lit a fire under Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks center was removed from the starting lineup for Nerlens Noel on Tuesday and responded with one of his best efforts in Tuesday’s 121-109 victory over the Spurs, securing 14 rebounds (eight offensive) with 11 points in 22 minutes.

“I kinda needed to build that flame back that I had before I broke my hand and my foot,” Robinson said. “So, trying to get back to myself.”

Earlier in the day — before his demotion was official — Robinson acknowledged his fitness remains an issue and hampered his game. The 23-year-old hasn’t recovered his wind from an extended surgery recovery and added weight in the offseason.

“My stamina. I’m getting tired real quick,” Robinson said. “I run for about six or seven minutes, and then boom — I’m gassed. So it’s something I need to work on real bad.”

But he was more aggressive and energetic Tuesday with the reserves. He also returned from a nasty bump to his back sustained when he was upended by Spurs center Drew Eubanks in the third quarter.

“It felt a little sore right now, but if I would’ve just came out the game and didn’t try to go back, I don’t think it would’ve happened,” Robinson said. “So, I just wanted to fight it out.”

Tom Thibodeau’s latest lineup alteration arrives just three games after he removed Kemba Walker from the rotation. The coach clearly had an inkling of the direction at the Tuesday morning shootaround at the AT&T Center, where Noel practiced with the starters, but kept his decision unofficial until thirty minutes before tipoff.

Noel was the starter for much of last season after Robinson suffered a broken foot, which required eight months of rehabilitation and included a setback. Robinson, 23, who’ll become a free agent after the season, was burned in consecutive losses to the Bulls and Nuggets by centers Nikola Vucevic and Nikola Jokic, respectively.

A big issue was Robinson’s slow closeouts to the three-point line, where Vucevic and Jokic combined for eight treys. Jokic was utterly dominant while scoring 32 points on 14-of-19 shooting with 11 boards, and Robinson summed up his problem thusly: “Yeah, just be in better shape.”

He took a step in the right direction in San Antonio.

“Before I broke my hand I was in pretty good shape,” Robinson said. “That was one of the best games I had, against Washington. That’s the best first half I had. I kind of need to get back to playing like that, with that edge.”

During training camp, Robinson touted his added weight as a benefit to dealing with big bodies in the paint. He even flexed to show off his new biceps. But he’s clearly lost some explosiveness while peaking at 280 pounds. Robinson, who did extra conditioning after Tuesday’s shootaround, said he’s down to 265 pounds.

“I mean, yeah it is (frustrating). I wish I could jump right back into it and be who I was before the injury,” Robinson said. “I’m just going to work and be back to myself.”

Thibodeau agreed that Robinson hasn’t reached an ideal game conditioning.

“The fact of the matter is he was out so long. He missed all the summer, he missed all the fall basically,” the coach said. “He got cleared right before we started training camp and even then he couldn’t do the entire practice. It’s been a work in progress. You can go in a pool, you can go on a bike, you can do all that stuff. It’s not the same as body on body in a game. There’s a physicality to it. It’s a lot different.”

“I wouldn’t react,” he said. “I’d just go out and play hard.”

The Knicks (11-12) entered Tuesday on a season-high three-game losing streak, with issues abound and no natural point guard in the lineup. The Spurs are no longer a dominant force but New York hasn’t won in San Antonio in seven years.

“I think a big part of every season is figuring out our team,” Thibodeau said. “We started slowly last season but we worked our way through it. That’s what we have to do – we have to work our way through this.”