The New York Knicks picked up an important 101-92 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday to maintain third place in the East. 

Center Mitchell Robinson grabbed a career high 22 rebounds, starting in place of Karl-Anthony Towns. 

Robinson's previous career high was 21 rebounds in a game, which he has done twice in his career. He grabbed 21 rebounds against the Toronto Raptors on March 28, 2019 and 21 rebounds against the Utah Jazz on February 7, 2022. Unlike Friday, when the Knicks were on the right side of the scoreboard, New York lost the prior two games. 

In fact, this was the first time the Knicks won when Robinson has gotten 20 or more rebounds. They were previously 0-4. 

After the game, Clarkson complimented his center. 

"That's just big time. He's been doing things at a high level all year, especially defensively…causing havoc. Big game for him. We are proud of him, " said Clarkson.

Clarkson had eight points, two rebounds, and two assists in 19 minutes off the bench.  

While Robinson grabbed 13 rebounds on the defensive side to end the possession for the Pacers, he was just as important on the offensive side, getting nine offensive rebounds to help extend possessions. The Knicks had 16 second chance points in the game. 

Along with his 22 rebounds, Robinson had 12 points on 6-10 shooting. It was just his fourth double-double of the season. 

OG Anunoby was second on the Knicks with eight rebounds. Jalen Brunson led the team in scoring with 29 points. 

Robinson has been a key contributor for the Knicks off the bench this season, averaging 5.3 points and 8.9 rebounds in 19.5 minutes. He's filled into the starting role when Towns has been out of the lineup. The Knicks have a 32-17 record with him in the lineup and 11-8 without him. 

Their overall numbers don't change much in terms of offense rating and defensive rating when he's on the floor (119.4 offensive rating, 114.4 defensive rating) compared to when he's off (119.8 offensive, 113.7 defensive), but the rebounding numbers are drastically different.

With Robinson on the floor, the Knicks have a 36.5% offensive rebounding rate. For comparison, the Rockets lead the league in offensive rebounding percentage at 39.2%. 

Though they don't play together often, only 5.8 minutes per game, Robinson and Towns have punished teams on the offensive glass with a 38.8% offensive rebounding rate.