Mitchell Robinson’s Knicks return comes with new injury question mark

SAN ANTONIO — A side benefit of the Knicks’ foul issues and drama Friday was a longer look at Mitchell Robinson, who played all but 12 seconds of overtime and felt good about the performance.

The downside is that he also came up with an injury, spraining his left ankle (not his surgically repaired one) after landing awkwardly on a dunk attempt.

The center, who recently returned from a 50-game injury absence, is listed as “questionable” for an Easter Sunday showdown against the Thunder despite postgame assurances that he was physically fine.

“I think I played a solid game for my second game back,” Robinson said. “What did I get, seven [points] and 12 [rebounds]?

Robinson’s 20 overall minutes represented his longest appearance since Dec. 5, a span of nearly four months that included his right ankle surgery.

His seven offensive boards brought back memories of Robinson’s All-Defense candidacy in the beginning of this campaign.

But it was hardly perfect.

Beyond the ankle sprain, Robinson, who played the overtime because Isaiah Hartenstein fouled out at the end of regulation, missed six of his nine shot attempts, clearly bothered underneath the basket by Victor Wembanyama’s Elastic Man presence.

The Knicks were outscored by 10 points with Robinson, who is now the clear backup, on the court.

His net rating was a rough minus-23 compared to Hartenstein’s plus-15.3.

Part of that rating is because Robinson played a few ugly minutes in the fourth quarter without Jalen Brunson, and the Knicks’ offense goes in the tank without Brunson.