Mike Brown: Knicks’ Towns-Robinson lineup ‘hasn’t been great’ vs. Hawks

ATLANTA — Knicks head coach Mike Brown says the dual big pairing of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson hasn’t been good in recent weeks, which is why he’s opted to stagger minutes between Towns and Robinson instead of splitting minutes between Towns and Jalen Brunson.

Ahead of tipoff of Game 3 against the Hawks at State Farm Arena on Thursday, Brown was asked whether or not he wanted to play Robinson, New York’s backup center and defensive anchor more minutes against an Atlanta team undermanned at center.

“You want [Mitch’s minutes] higher, but the only way it’s going to be higher — there’s two ways: you play Mitch and KAT together, or you play KAT less,” the Knicks’ coach said. “And the combination of the two of them right now hasn’t been great.”

It’s a surprising development given the dual-big lineup was one of their strong suits under Tom Thibodeau — and a blueprint for success during Towns’ time alongside Rudy Gobert with the Minnesota Timberwolves

Last season, with largely the same core rotation, the Knicks were plus-17.2 in limited regular-season minutes then maintained a plus-7.7 net rating over 152 playoff minutes.

This year, Towns and Robinson played a total of 265 regular-season minutes under Brown, and the Knicks outscored opponents by an average of 6.3 points per 100 possessions with both 7-footers on the floor.

That has changed to start the first round against the Hawks.

Towns and Robinson shared the court for six minutes through the first two games of the opening round of the playoffs. The Knicks were outscored by a whopping average of 36.4 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.

“And so I’m choosing to not play them together right now in this series a lot because of the matchups and stuff like that,” Brown said. “So at the end of the day, it’s a choice.”

The Knicks outscored the Hawks by 15.2 points per 100 possessions in the 56 minutes Towns played without Robinson in Games 1 and 2. They boasted a minus-4.4 net rating in Robinson’s 27 minutes played without another Knicks center on the floor.