NBA playoffs 2025 - How Mitchell Robinson's return changed the Knicks - ESPN

THE QUIETEST MOMENT inside Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks' 2025 playoff run wasn't when Tyrese Haliburton's shot hovered above the rim in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. It wasn't when Jalen Brunson took an odd step with his troublesome right ankle in New York's playoff opener.

That moment belongs to Game 3 of the Knicks' conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics, when swaths of Knicks fans politely encouraged each other to stay silent, whispering «Shhh!» as center Mitchell Robinson stepped to the free throw line during the second quarter.

It was something of a reversal from how the crowd handled things a few minutes earlier, when it roared after Robinson got fouled to show their support for the defensive-minded, rim-running big man and his 34% free throw shooting in the playoffs. But after that effort resulted in an unsightly airball — Robinson's second of the series in a matchup where the defending champs were intentionally sending him to the line — the Garden crowd quickly shifted into silence. Broadcast cameras panned to Knicks superfans Spike Lee and Ben Stiller, who, like everyone else, seemed unsure of what to do at that moment.

But Robinson's second attempt went down, inciting a massive cheer for the 27-year-old Robinson, the club's longest-tenured player, and whose return in late February after a lengthy recovery from an ankle injury has helped reshape a Knicks defense from one that couldn't handle the league's best teams to one that's seven wins from an NBA title.

The Knicks crowd supported Mitchell Robinson while he was at the free throw line