Handling 'Hack-a-Mitch'

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has implemented the "hack-a-Mitch" strategy in this series and it's worked out for them. Intentionally putting Mitchell Robinson on the free-throw line -- where he's a career 52 percent shooter -- has allowed Boston to maintain momentum while neutralizing the Knicks' offense.

Mazzulla used the strategy again in Game 3 on Saturday and Robinson responded by going 4-for-12 at the line. He's now 11-for-38 (29 percent) this postseason. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about the decision-making process of leaving Robinson in.

"You got to make a decision between 5 and 2 and then go from there. If he’s making, he stays; if he’s not, we got to get him out," Thibodeau said. "Is he impacting the game? Is that more beneficial to leave him in? There’s a lot of factors that go into that."

To the MSG crowd's credit, they were encouraging to Robinson whenever he was put on the free-throw line. They went crazy when he hit his first, and the big man would make three in a row at one point in the game.

The six-year center was practicing his free-throw shooting during pregame warmups but it seems the Celtics will keep sending him to the line until he gives them a reason not to. In the meantime, Robinson's teammates are looking to lift him up.

"You encourage. It's a tough position to be in, especially mentally. We're going to have each other's back regardless," Jalen Brunson said of Robinson. "No matter what happens, we're going to win together, we're going to lose together. We're going to go through that together."

On Saturday, Robinson played 19 minutes, scoring six points and coming down with eight rebounds, six offensive.

Towns' hand injury

During Saturday's loss, Karl-Anthony Towns was seen holding his shooting hand in pain after being fouled on a shot.

The first-year Knick did not come out of the game and scored 21 points on 5-of-18 shooting while coming down with 15 rebounds in 37 minutes on the court.

Towns was asked about his hand after the game.

"It is what it is," Towns said. "I just want to do whatever I can to be out there."

Viewers on social media were trying to read Towns' lips and they believe he said that he broke something, but the big man would not give any indication of what's going on.

"It is what it is. I'm going to keep finding ways to play. I ain't tripping," he said. Towns also gave a non-answer when asked if he had an X-ray done after the game.

"It's the playoffs. People are going to get hit and you have to play through things. That's why you do it throughout the entire season. No one is playing 100 percent but you can understand you can play well when you're feeling less than your best. That's all part of it; the mental part of the playoffs is huge."

Back in January, Towns sustained a sprained thumb and it was revealed he has a bone chip in his right thumb, which has played through this season.

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