The Cavaliers did on Wednesday what they do best: win meaningless, regular-season games.
The Knicks, meanwhile, handed out a dub and ate a loss on purpose on their way to find their best-working lineups for when winning, you know, actually matters.
Here’s the latest from MSG on a rare off day.
Mike Brown
On Wednesday’s loss:
“We’ll learn from this game, and keep it moving.”
On why Bridges remains a starter despite his shooting slump:
“Mikal is a starter. And so it’s not a question of that. He’s like a lot of players: They’ve had their good moments and their not so good moments. And Mikal has a proven track record of playing at a pretty high level as a starter in this league.
“So, for me to make a quote-unquote ‘panic decision’ and change it right now — we’re 10 games in or whatever we are. I’m not feeling it. So I’m good.”
On the Knicks’ defensive physicality and ability to defend without fouling:
“Just our level of physicality. Our level of physicality without fouling. Because you can be over the top, grabbing and pushing and holding, but our guys, they’re doing their work early. They’re doing their work early and they’re being real physical about it without putting their hands on guys. When you do that and you do that for close to 48 minutes, you usually get good results. And our guys are doing it.”
On the defensive intensity of Landry Shamet and Miles McBride:
“I think our physicality on the defensive end of the floor is at a pretty high level. And they [are doing] it the right way. They’re doing it without fouling, which is a lot of fun to watch. The point of attack with Landry and Deuce, especially, on the ball, is unbelievable.”
On Josh Hart’s perimeter defense and the importance of his return:
“He’s tremendous on the ball. In pick-and-roll situations, we always want our point of confrontation, especially against guys that shoot the ball at the 3-point line, Josh is really good at that. He’s really good at leading with his chest. And he’s strong. He’s a strong guy that knows the league, he knows the players very well.
“His impact when it comes to guarding the ball, on the perimeter especially, is something that you always miss.”
On the Knicks’ defensive communication, rebounding and improved pick-and-roll coverage:
“Their level of communication is high. Their ability to box out is high. Their ability to get back in transition is high. We were hurting in the pick-and-roll game defensively, but we’ve done a better job because the point of attack has been good and our guy guarding the screener has been great, too.”
On Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart losing minutes to Shamet and McBride:
“It’s gonna be hard to find minutes at times for Mikal. And maybe even at times for Josh. Because those two guys [McBride and Shamet] are playing at a pretty high level.
“Part of it is we got two guys that are playing really well in Landry and Deuce. And so it’s hard. It’s going to be hard to find minutes at times for Mikal — and maybe even at times for Josh, because those two guys are playing at a pretty high level, and not just on the offense of the floor but defensively, too.”
On the Knicks’ defensive struggles against Cleveland and his decision to keep playing Shamet and McBride:
“I mean, this is one of our worst defensive games overall that we’ve had. In the past five or six games we’ve been playing really well at that end of the floor, but they got loose tonight.
“And Landry and Deuce have been a big part of what we’ve done defensively. So if they’re playing at a high level, I’ve? got to keep trying to find ways to get those guys on the floor.”
On taking responsibility for keeping the Knicks in their defensive blitz against Donovan Mitchell too long:
“We blitzed Donovan in the second half and that fourth quarter. Give Donovan credit, he did a nice job making the right play out of it. … I kept us in the blitz a little too long, and I should have taken us out of the blitz. That part is on me.
“I kept us in the blitz a little too long. I should have taken us out of the blitz. So that part is on me and I gotta be better helping our group in that area.”
On the Knicks’ curious lack of free-throw attempts:
“[Cleveland] had 14 more free-throw attempts than us, four more offensive rebounds than us and two less turnovers. When that happens versus a good team, it’s gonna be hard to win the game.
“At one time, the free-throw advantage was 18-3. That’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team like that, because it’s already hard enough to go win a game.”
On Brunson receiving no free-throw attempts despite playing nearly 35 minutes:
“Jalen plays 34 minutes or almost 35 minutes and he has zero free-throw attempts. That’s pretty alarming. I’m not sure how or why it’s that way. I know at one time, the free throw advantage was 18-3. That’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team like that, because it’s already hard enough to go win a game. That was part of the reason why we lost the possession game. … James Harden had a great game as well. James shot as many free throws as our whole team.”
On Andre Drummond helping replace Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding:
“Andre’s done a fantastic job in that area, as an individual. He’s not Mitch, nobody would compare him to Mitch, but he’s brought a dimension to the table that we really like. He’s always been a great offensive rebounder, and he’s showing it now as an individual.”
On the Knicks’ assistant coaches emphasizing offensive rebounding and transition defense:
“They’re handling the offensive duties and they’ve been emphasizing the crash areas. And they’ve done a great job — a fantastic job — of coaching our group, in that area. So our guys have a really good understanding of when to go and when not to go and how to go so we don’t get beat in transition.”
Jalen Brunson
On the Knicks failing to execute in crucial moments against Cleveland:
“We were in it. But just timely stops and timely buckets were needed.”
On Cleveland’s defensive adjustments and his failure to respond quickly enough:
“You gotta give them a lot of credit. It’s something I’ll be a little more prepared for. I just didn’t adjust in-game as fast as I wanted to. I was still able to make plays, but not enough to win.”
On needing to be more aggressive even if it means making mistakes:
“From how we started the game to how we finished it, just from my end, I can’t be hesitant. I can’t be a little stagnant at times. It puts my team at a disadvantage, so I just have to be more aggressive in my mistakes, if I’m making any. I just need to have a little more aggression.”
On supporting Mikal Bridges despite his struggles and criticism from outside the team:
“No matter what’s going on, with what people are saying or anything, the people in this room have his back night in and night out. We see the work he puts into his game. We see the time that he puts in. When you’re doing the right things day in and day out, things will eventually fall in your favor. So just giving him support, giving him confidence every single day, regardless of what the noise is on the outside. That’s our brother, and we’re going to keep it that way.”
On controlling what he can after receiving no free-throw attempts against Cleveland:
“I just gotta control what I can control, and keep it at that.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On taking greater rebounding responsibility following Mitchell Robinson’s departure:
“When you lose a great offensive rebounder like Mitchell Robinson, you got to pick up the slack. Of course, we have one of the best rebounders of the generation in Andre Drummond. But I want to do my part, and one of the ways I can impact winning and help our team tremendously on a nightly basis is make sure they don’t get second-chance points and also we get second-chance points.”
Miles McBride
On the difficulty of defending James Harden after his 32-point performance:
“MVP, scoring champ. He’s a tough matchup for anybody in this league. You gotta tip your hat to him.”
On the uncalled goaltending on Peyton Watson’s block:
“I thought it was a goaltend. The guys behind the bench said that as well.”
Landry Shamet
On James Harden and Donovan Mitchell adjusting to the Knicks’ defensive blitz:
“James has been doing this a long time. Donovan’s been doing this a long time. They probably got a little comfortable. At the end of the day, it was a one-possession game, and we could have shored up a few things, probably, that would have helped us keep it a little tighter and given us a chance to win. But give them credit, because they knew what we were doing and took advantage of it.”
Jordan Clarkson
On his offensive rebounding prowess:
“I just got a knack for it.”
On the Knicks collectively replacing Mitchell Robinson’s offensive rebounding contributions:
“I think a lot of that is effort. And just doing it. A lot of us are crashing. You see guys like Deuce going in for those plays. Everybody, honestly. Picking up where we left off last year. We had a guy (Robinson) who was able to grab a lot of offensive boards, get us extra possessions. So all of us had to kind of step up and do that. But Dre has been doing a great job of rebounding, getting us extra possessions. Kicking it out and finding his way.”
