In the midst of a Knicks beatdown, Mitchell Robinson wanted to administer one of his own.
The Knicks center was ejected in the second quarter of Thursday’s 140-89 massacre for going after Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, and video taken from the stands at State Farm Arena in Atlanta is even more chaotic than what viewers saw on TV.
Robinson tried to fight through anyone and everyone on the court, using every last inch of his 7-foot, 240-pound frame to muscle his way toward Daniel in a scene that did a number on a crowd with a heavy Knicks fan bent.
“Oh my god,” one onlooker said before letting out a scream. “I’m terrified.”
Other simply cheered for some sign of life from a Hawks team on the wrong side of a 72-22 score.
The entanglement with Robinson and Daniel began with 4:39 left in the first half, following OG Anunoby’s free throw that made it a 50-point lead.
Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu tried to separate Robinson from Daniels, with Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson trying to hold his big man back as things moved toward the stands.
One official took a tumble, and Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson isolated Robinson before things went too far and spilled off the court.
The brouhaha did not reach the crowd, though. If it had the NBA would be taking a closer look at things, according to noti.group’s Stefan Bondy.
That’s a sigh of relief for the Knicks, who can take some solace in knowing the league has one fewer thing to take into account for potential punitive measures.
“It’s tough because when you’re up that big, stuff happens,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “If somebody feels like something that shouldn’t happen to them happened, it’s hard to keep your composure in that moment.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we talked about and our guys did a good job of that for the rest of the game.”
Robinson did not speak after the game. He finished with six points on 3-of-3 shooting, adding three rebounds and a pair of blocks in his nine minutes.
If Robinson’s on-court message to Daniels didn’t get through, the big man sent it home with some social media missives after the win.
“Knew something was gone happen,” he wrote on Facebook. “My mental just not the same I’m just lost in the world at the moment.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
