BOSTON — Mitchell Robinson didn’t mince words at Celtics practice Thursday morning, less than 48 hours after his lackluster Celtics debut.
In the Celtics’ 121-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons, Robinson tallied 4 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers in 18 minutes. The normally prolific rebounder couldn’t make his impact on the glass, grabbing just 3 boards, only 1 of which came on the offensive end.
“It’s obviously just my fault,” Robinson said. “I got to accept that, and obviously be better
from here on out. It’s straightforward — my fault.”
Robinson pointed to his lack of defensive impact as one of the main issues with his performance.
“We didn’t keep our foot on the gas, and it starts with me,” he said. “I’m one of the best defensive bigs in this league, and I didn’t show it that night. I got to take ownership of that; I gotta be better.”
The 28-year-old did go down with a twisted ankle in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game, but returned shortly after. On Thursday, he said the ankle injury didn’t factor into his performance.
“You tweak an ankle, you’re going to feel it a little bit here and there, but shit happens,” Robinson said. “I just felt like I was playing like trash the whole time anyways. I mean, shit.”
Robinson isn’t worried about putting points on the board. But his interior presence and rebounding got him a 3-year, $47 million contract, and he prioritizes those on any given night.
“Once I feel good about that after the game, for me, that’s when I know I did pretty good,” he said. “I really don’t care about stat lines, scoring; we got that over here already. It’s like — what can I do to help my team?”
Joe Mazzulla spoke with Robinson after the game
Mitchell Robinson said last week that Joe Mazzulla has been hard on him since he arrived in Boston.
“He’s getting on my ass a lot,” he said. “Which, you know, I need that. But he gets on my ass.”
But after Robinson’s frustrating game, Mazzula reached out in an encouraging fashion.
“Joe’s a great guy,” Robinson said. “He talked me through a lot of things, especially that night. He sent me text messages and stuff like that, and I appreciate it, but I didn’t even respond to the last text. But I was still stuck in my head about it. Like, I played like ass.”
Mazzulla said he recognizes Robinson’s importance and expects him to keep acclimating over time.
“It’s game one, obviously, and again, for us, he’s a very important piece to what we do, and so the standard is a little bit higher, and the expectation is a little bit higher,” Mazzulla said. “So I think it just comes with time, understanding that every play, you’re at the nucleus of what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor, and it’s a great compliment that all three of those bigs share. And some of that just comes with time — just the offensive reads, the offensive chemistry, the offensive execution, but also the defensive reads and the defensive reactions that we have to have. I appreciate that he’s in that space, and I think he’s taking on the responsibility and knowing how important that position is.”
Robinson said last week he’s enjoying his more involved role, even though there’s been an acclimation period.
“I’m in a lot of actions on the offensive side,” Robinson said. “Over there, I was just like, set one screen, roll, and they’ll be going on the other side, and then maybe come back. But like, this one, I’m in like every action. I’m setting the flare, pin down, ball screen, whatever. Like I’m just always actively moving.”
Mitchell Robinson will face his old Knicks teammates on Friday
On Friday, Robinson will face the New York Knicks, the team he spent his first 8 years with. The Knicks also come off an opening-day loss, a 106-100 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers.
But though Robinson is excited to put Tuesday behind him, he said he doesn’t have extra emotion or motivation specifically because of the Knicks match-up.
“It doesn’t really matter that I’m playing my former team,” he said. “It’s more so just trying to bounce back from what happened two nights ago. At the end of the day, it’s basketball; it’s a business. And, you got to play the team just like you play any other team.”
