The first few weeks of Mitchell Robinson's tenure with the Boston Celtics have been a roller coaster. It didn't take long for him to play so badly that it appeared as though his leash was getting shorter, but then his play started improving, going from terrible to neutral. Baby steps are baby steps, no?
Well, Robinson finally played like the player the Celtics wanted him to be against Milwaukee last night. His stat line of 12 points (on perfect six-for-six shooting) to go with seven rebounds (four offensive), four steals, and a block were quite impressive.
The game film makes him look better, as he was finishing lobs and getting putbacks. He was a presence in the dunker's spot. What was the biggest takeaway from this is that this time, Robinson's insertion actually did help the Celtics.
Plus/minus numbers are flimsy, but Boston was down when Robinson was inserted into the game. When it was all said and done, he finished with a plus/minus of plus-19 in a 20-point win. That's the kind of impact Boston wanted when they signed Robinson away from New York this past summer.
Again, he was showing signs of life over the past few games, but not to the point where it was clear he had turned the corner. It was against one of the NBA's worst teams, Milwaukee, but when Robinson is not only thriving but is proving himself to fit the role Boston wanted from him, it's fantastic news.
Now, it's about consistency
Robinson had an excellent showing last night. He looked like the guy who undeniably factored into the Knicks' title run last season. He likely won't play like that every night, but we've seen from the likes of Paul George that he doesn't necessarily have to. His presence is enough.
As long as he has lift, shows energy and presence on the boards, and makes plays on defense, Boston will gladly take that. Before, it seemed like he had no lift whatsoever, nor did it seem like he was really mobile. His performance against the Bucks shows that he's definitely on the up and up.
His next challenge won't just be consistency, but also doing this against some of the Celtics' stiffest competition. Playing like that is a good enough sign on its own, but if he can do it against the likes of San Antonio, New York, Oklahoma City, Detroit, and Philadelphia, among others, Boston will be much harder to stop in their tracks.
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