It’s beginning to look nothing like Mitch-miss for the New York Knicks.

While the exhausted Knicks couldn’t conjure up another home win at Madison Square Garden, center Mitchell Robinson stood as a sterling silver lining in the 116-107 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers. Robinson came off the bench to post a 21-point, 16-rebound double-double after missing Thursday’s narrow win in Indianapolis amidst the Knicks’ management of his recurring injuries.

“It felt great, you know,” Robinson said in the aftermath in video from SNY. “But, you know, doesn’t really mean too much because we lost.”

Despite the defeat, Friday featured a welcome change of pace for Robinson and the Knicks: the tenured center, one of the few traditionally-defined post men left in the NBA, shot a sterling 7-of-8 from the foul line, defying the “Bewitch-a-Mitch” strategy several teams have employed to slow down the Knicks’ mobile offense.

Robinson has shot just over 51% from the foul line in his exclusively-New York career and his woes at the charity stripe hit the mainstream when last spring’s postseason opponents fouled him away from the ball to put him at the line. A good bit of Robinson’s offseason social media activity showed that he was actively working on the problem but he was at 22% by the time the Sixers came in.

But his efforts helped the exhausted Knicks (19-8) keep pace in their fourth game in seven days: his rebounding output created a plus-21 advantage on the glass (albeit on a night where the Sixers missed an ill Joel Embiid) and he carried a larger offensive burden with several fellow regulars struggling.

“I’m trying to stop everybody from doing that hacking and [stuff],” Robinson remarked, per Madeline Kenney of the New York Post. “That’s kind of the main goal because I wouldn’t be able to play the fourth quarter, you know what I mean? The longer I’m out there, the more I help my teammates.”

The seven successful singles for Robinson broke a career-high that stood for over six calendar years and the resulting success rate of 87.5% was another personal best on night where took at least five tries from the line. In the midst of a tough defeat, just the second the Knicks have endured under MSG’s iconic roof this season, Robinson’s teammates were pleased with his progress. Veteran Josh Hart, for example, had never seen such consistent fan enthusiasm for foul shots, especially in a game’s second quarter.

“Obviously, you know, you see, like, and-one or something like that, end of a game, you see something like that,” Hart said in video from SNY. “That’s more like a one-off kind of thing. Not in the second quarter, but, you know, we love it.”

“He’s working, he’s concentrating, and you’re seeing the progress on his work,” added Brunson in Kenney’s report. “He’s going to continue to work and get better at it.” 

With Friday’s output, Robinson’s free throw percentage raised about 15 points. His next chance to add to that tally lands on Sunday evening when the Knicks host the Miami Heat (6 p.m. ET, MSG).