On the bare numbers, 25-year-old Isaiah Hartenstein has had a pretty good season for the New York Knicks. The seven-footer is averaging 6.3 points and a career-best 7.3 rebounds per game.
However, what the numbers don’t tell is how much the usual backup center has stepped up in wake of yet another injury to Mitchell Robinson. Since Robinson went down with ankle surgery last month, Hartenstein is averaging ten boards and almost two blocks in 32.4 minutes per game. That’s ten minutes more than his season average.
Hartenstein’s latest performance—20 rebounds and five blocks in New York’s 116-100 win over Chicago on Wednesday—only fuels the inevitable.