Mitchell Robinson apparently felt the need to highlight his matchup against Nets center Nic Claxton after Wednesday’s blowout victory over the Nets.
Robinson eventually deleted the tweet, but he initially took to Twitter to boast about his fourth consecutive double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) since returning from a month-long absence following right thumb surgery on Jan. 19.
“Fun fact: best center in New York,” Robinson tweeted around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, along with a shrug emoji, before adding between two fire emojis, “and I’m Standing 10 toes on that.”
Claxton — who is averaging 12.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocked shots and a league-best 71.0 field-goal percentage — had nine points and eight boards in 22 minutes Wednesday against the Knicks.
Former Knicks coach and current TV analyst Jeff Van Gundy believes Josh Hart has been a “perfect” addition for Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks.
“I think not only the Knicks needed Josh Hart, I think every team needs Josh Harts,” Van Gundy told The Post. “Skill is much easier attained than skill with grit and physical toughness.
“I think Hart, his defensive rebounding is a huge component, that’s one. I also think you saw it twice [Wednesday] night, the ability to rebound, push and finish. Incredibly important to get layups in transition. And then I think the third thing is when can you play well when you don’t shoot well. Not that he didn’t shoot well [Wednesday] night [2-for-3], but he didn’t have a lot of shots, and he absolutely was dominant in his [26] minutes. You see it in his plus-minus [plus-30], you see it in who he’s guarding. And he’s willing to do things in contact plays.”
Van Gundy even compared Hart to Knicks legend John Starks in that latter regard.
“Starks coined the term long ago in the ’90s, when he would scream out, ‘Make ’em feel ya on defense,’ ” Van Gundy added. “Constantly. You couldn’t shut him up, ‘Make ‘em feel ya!’
“That’s what Hart does, he ‘makes ’em feel ya.’ I hope wherever Starks is watching these games, whether it’s in a suite or at his home, that he’s screaming at the TV, when he sees Hart, ‘make ’em feel ya.’ Because that’s what Hart does, too.”
Jalen Brunson was named Eastern Conference player of the month for February after averaging 27.3 points and 6.0 assists on 52.9 percent shooting and 42.6 percent from 3-point range in 10 games.