#Hand specialist provides insight on Mitchell Robinson injury

Though Tom Thibodeau said Knicks center Mitchell Robinson will be cleared to do some practice drills, the coach gave no estimation as to when his shot-blocker will return.

One leading orthopedic hand surgeon from Northwestern University told The Post a common time-frame for the healing of a fractured fourth metacarpal is 6-8 weeks, based on varying factors.

Robinson, who broke his right hand Feb. 12 in Washington, will hit the five-week mark Friday at the Knicks’ next practice.

“I know he was evaluated,’’ Thibodeau said following the Knicks’ loss Tuesday night to the 76ers. “Yeah, he can get — not game contact yet. There’s a progression to what he has to go through. Everything looks good. He’s done a lot of running on the court, ball handling with the left hand. Now the next phase is for him to go through practice, take contact there.

“We all know that the intensity of a game is a lot different than practice. That’ll be the next step. Once he clears that step, he’ll be ready to go.’’

But when? Robinson’s specialty as a shot-blocker doesn’t help the cause.

Dr. Chirag Shah, a hand specialist at Northwestern, said an NFL lineman could return in four weeks just by putting on a cast. An NBA player can’t function that way.

“As a basketball player he needs the fingers and motion of his hand,’’ Dr. Shah said. “It’s harder to protect. Being conservative with that is the main thing here. The one thing you could do if you get him back too early is you can add insult to injury.

“It’s about: Is the fracture healing and stable? When is the fracture stable enough to withstand any potential impact? A basketball player will have potential for a lot of impact as opposed to a football lineman, you put on a big old club cast.’’

Robinson has missed the past 14 games, and the Knicks are starting to feel his loss more deeply. Nerlens Noel has held down the fort defensively but doesn’t score nearly the amount of garbage buckets (alley-oops and putbacks) as Robinson.

Before Monday’s game against the Nets at Barclays Center, The Post observed Robinson putting up jump shots with a slightly different form than usual. He had trouble making them. However, Robinson rarely has taken jump shots in his career.

“A shot-blocker would have more potential impact to that finger, but even a shooting guard could still have impact,’’ Dr. Shah said. “They’re still playing defense.’’

Dr. Shah has not seen Robinson’s X-rays and said a lot of factors play into when he could get cleared for his first game, including “scarring’’ from surgery and “motion of the tendon’’

“The fourth metacarpal is just telling you what bone,’’ he said. “You don’t know the type of break and where along the bone it was — the base or into the joint.’’

Nowadays, there are many various ways of treating fourth-metacarpal fractures, Dr. Shah said. Robinson had a second opinion before the operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Of a standard six-to-eight-week timetable, Dr. Shah noted: “Could be sooner. Could be longer. Depends on how it’s healing and how the hand is functioning.

Knicks brass needs to figure if it needs a frontcourt depth piece in case Robinson returns on a minutes restriction.

The third-year center is averaging 8.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. His free-throw shooting has suffered this season (47.8 percent).