First road game of the Eastern Conference Finals for your New York Knickerbockers.
Will the Cavs just bend, or will they molly-break?
Here’s the latest from a wide variety of Knicks-related personalities.
Mike Brown
On the overall Game 2 performance:
“A lot of of guys stepped up; Jalen [Brunson] had a double-double. They’re sending double teams at him, and he has 14 assists. And again, he did what he was supposed to do. KAT with a double-double, 18 points, very
efficient shooting and 13 rebounds. Mikal [Bridges] was huge: 19 points, especially catching the ball in the pocket versus their double teams or their tilts. OG was awesome, too. And then, Josh — we had 32 assists on 44 buckets. Josh had seven assists, one turnover, and 33 plus minutes.”
Jalen Brunson
On how defense sparked a sublime transition offense in Game 2:
“I think we were able to get stops and run and get easy baskets. So our offense is definitely — the way we were able to play in transition was a credit to our defense.”
On the Knicks’ growth during the playoff run:
“I think the most important thing is that we’re growing and learning together. No matter what the situation is, whatever the series is or whatever, we’re open to learning, we’re open to getting better, open to figuring out how to win games, trusting each other. So it’s a lot of different things, but I think the most important thing no matter what is that we’re sticking together.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On staying grounded even being up 2-0:
“We don’t feel any closer than we did last game or any game. In our minds, it’s back to 0-0. We gotta win the next game, it’s the most important game of the year. That’s how we treat it. We’re hungry to go out there and play basketball at the highest level. But we also understand that you can never be satisfied in these positions in the playoffs. The mindset is gonna continue to be 0-0 every single time we step on that court.”
Kenny Atkinson
On praising Donovan Mitchell’s leadership:
“Not just your on court, but your leadership. Your positivity when things were really not going great. Whether we won or lost tonight, we never celebrate you in these things – you don’t want that, you don’t want the praise – but tonight you deserve the praise.”
On leaning heavily on Mitchell:
“I know I leaned on him. That’s the first place to go when you’re struggling, to your leader. We had a lot of conversations, just talking through things, how we can get this thing back on track. And again, he never kind of swayed towards the negative.”
Donovan Mitchell
On staying calm being down 0-2 to New York:
“I’m not sitting here like, oh man, scrambling and trying to figure things out. At the end of the day, we make some shots, we’ll be in good shape. … We’ll make our adjustments. We’ll be at home and protect home court.”
On avoiding discouragement:
“No need to get discouraged. We just got to go to Cleveland and handle business.”
On Cleveland’s experience falling behind in other postseason series:
“I think it helps, from a mentality standpoint, this isn’t our first time at it. This isn’t our first time facing adversity, we’ve been to two Game 7s. So being down 2-0, it’s not the biggest challenge. It’s right here, so let’s go ahead and take advantage of it. I understand that they’re gonna make adjustments, we are as well. … It’s really as simple as we have to protect home court, that’s really it.”
On the foundation built through work:
“It’s the work you put in. In tough moments, in anything, life or the game, if you don’t have anything to pull from, if you don’t have a foundation or something that you work hard at – Kenny was stressing that throughout the whole playoffs, it’s like, ‘This is why we work harder. This is why we’ve did the extra sprints. These are all the things that we’ve done.’ This is why you do those things. So you don’t waver.”
Evan Mobley
On the Cavaliers having dealt with adversity before:
“We’ve been here before. We know what it takes.”
Jarrett Allen
On Cleveland’s gamble leaving Josh Hart open:
“Sometimes the plan doesn’t go to plan. He got hot, not even at the three-point line. He did everything on offense for them. Kudos to him for changing the game and having an impact in a different way.”
Dan Gilbert
On rallying Cavaliers fans after going down 0-2:
“OK Cavs fans, feel familiar? Clearly it’s not ideal, but we have done this twice already. We go home, win 2 and then it’s a 3-game series and we win it in 6 or 7. Keep believing. Let Em **C**** Know?”
Jeremy Lin
On supporting Karl-Anthony Towns during the Knicks’ playoff run:
“I haven’t been back to the Garden since Linsanity…Finally could make a game…but Knicks swept Sixers so I didn’t get to go to Game 5…My outfit was gonna be a KAT jersey…I’m a big supporter of KAT.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
On Josh Hart’s Game 2 performance:
“I don’t think anyone in sports in general doesn’t have respect for that guy — even if they aren’t in New York. To be able to come back at a time like this, in the playoffs, and do what he did? That’s kind of legendary.”
On his friendship with Hart in New York:
“We’re just two athletes who understand New York and are trying to learn a little bit more about New York: the excitement of it, the way the city moves and the way the city works. When he has a good game, I’ll hit him up. I was supposed to call him today to see how he’s feeling but I’m late.”
On the possibility of a Knicks-Yankees title year:
“For the city, it would be cool to have a Knicks-Yankees NBA Finals-World Series thing in the same year.”
On bonding with Knicks players:
“Those are my guys over there. It’s pretty cool to have a friendship in the same city.”
Metta World Peace
On predicting a Knicks championship:
“They’re going to win it. I think this is going to be the time. I knew I wanted to see it in my lifetime, and it feels like Jalen Brunson is the best player in the playoffs right now even though [San Antonio’s Victor] Wembanyama is really good. But right now, Jalen Brunson is the best player in the playoffs.”
On his loyalty to the Indiana Pacers:
“With the Pacers, when somebody hold you and your family down, you’re always going to be in debt. So it’s the Pacers, for sure. Because people were trying to really harm me physically, and the city and the coaches and the players, they had my back. So that’s just like Queensbridge-type s–t.”
On what a Knicks title would mean for New York:
“S–t, you already know what it’s going to be. The city is about to be all turned up. It’s about to be turned upside down. Just be ready to pay that big bill, New York City. The energy — it’s time. We’ve been waiting for this.”
On Jalen Brunson’s potential legacy with a title:
“He’d get a statue. He’d be the best Knicks player ever. … If he wins the title in this era, with these players, players playing against him right now like SGA [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] and Wembanyama — it’s never been this difficult.”
On missing his chance to lead the Knicks to a title:
“I wanted to be the one to bring the Knicks back and be a real core piece in my prime. Being the Defensive Player of the Year in the Garden, I just felt like that would’ve been a helluva — if you would’ve come to the Garden with me on the other side in my prime, good luck to you. I’m always going to go back to me, personally. But for the Knicks to win the championship now, you can’t take it away from nobody. You can’t take it away from anybody from New York. You can’t take it away from the players. You can’t take it away from the coaches. You can’t take it away from the owners. You can’t take it away from the fans. We want to see that because we’re from New York.”
Walt Frazier
On James Harden’s legacy in this series:
“This is where Harden is now. He’s come to the fork in the road. Which way is he going to go? His legacy is on the line. If he gets torched again, he’s done. His career is over. This is all people are going to remember, this series. Not what he did in the regular season, but what he did in the playoffs.”
On how Kenny Atkinson should handle Harden:
“So if I’m Kenny Atkinson, I put Harden back in the game [in crunch time]. I don’t punish him, I encourage him. When we were in the playoffs and we were playing the Bullets, Red Holzman pulled me in the corner [and said], ‘Hey, Clyde, forget about offense, just focus on defense on Earl [Monroe]. Forget about offense. Don’t think about offense.’ Explore More If I’m Kenny Atkinson, I go to Harden, and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m putting you back in there. This is why we acquired you. Look at your career. I know what you’ve done, you can do it.’ I leave it all up to him. This is what coach [Mike] Brown did to [Mikal] Bridges. Remember when Bridges was floundering? Everybody said take him out of the lineup. He didn’t take him out; [he] put him out there and now look at what Bridges is doing.”
Rick Brunson
On Jalen being around him daily when coaching began:
“It was new because my dad was there all the time now. He’s here every day with me, and we’re starting to actually work on my game.”
On Jalen’s early seriousness about basketball:
“This was a job for him, this is what he wanted. I didn’t know where it would go from there, but I knew he was serious about it. Most kids play, go home and enjoy the rest of the day. He cared about winning and losing. Losing bothered him. He wanted to be perfect, he wanted to play well, he wanted to win.”
On pushing Jalen in workouts:
“I wanted to see if he would fold or if he would keep coming back. Are you going to give in? Are you going to talk back? Or are you just going to work and keep showing that you can do it? I would always tell him, ‘This is what a college coach is going to do — the difference is I love you, he doesn’t.’”
On Jalen responding to pressure:
“He kept coming back. He wanted to prove me wrong.”
On Jalen’s physical limitations and mental edge:
“He didn’t have the athleticism. He didn’t have the size. So what gets you over? Mental toughness, hard work and being very, very skilled.”
On wanting Jalen under the radar in New York:
“I didn’t want him to be great, just solid. Go under-the-radar but be respected. Maybe he didn’t get credit for the winning, but he wasn’t going to get blamed for the losing. Remember, I’m a father first, coach second.”
On soaking in the Garden atmosphere:
“I want to be around it and embrace it. I want to smell it. I want to be a part of it.”
On watching Jalen’s introductions:
“I take time to look around the arena, and it’s a surreal feeling. That he’s here on this stage, (the fan reaction) never gets old.”
On advising Jalen during a slump in Utah:
“I said, ‘Hey man, everything’s good. You’re playing well, you’re playing a good floor game. You’re just missing your shots, so now you’ve got to concentrate on why you’re missing. You’ve got to do more of everything — exaggerate your follow-through, exaggerate how high you jump, exaggerate the ball coming off your finger. You’ve got to walk that ball to the hole. You’ve got to visualize it. You’ve got to come out in the second half and just get back to who you are. I’ve seen you go 6-for-6, 7-for-7 in a half. You’ve got to block out what happened in the first half.’”
On challenging Jalen during a game in Toronto:
“He starts yelling back and I said, ‘You need to shut the f–k up and let me coach you. Don’t get too good to let me coach you. Because if you don’t want me to coach you, I won’t say s–t. You’ve got to play harder, you’re bulls–ting.’”
On Jalen’s response afterward:
“Afterward he said, ‘You’re right. I needed that,’”
On what matters most:
“It’s about winning. That’s all I care about. One of my closest friends is the (team) president — I want to win for him; I want to win for myself; I want to win for my son.”
Stephen A. Smith
On being worried about the Knicks’ chances against both Western Conference contenders:
“Because when I look at Oklahoma City and San Antonio, I see the two best teams in basketball. Now, there some that believe that Knicks would lose to OKC. I’m one of those people. But that they would beat San Antonio. I’m not so sure. I’m not so sure and it ain’t because of Wemby. If you got all your ducks in order, if De’Aaron Fox can play… San Antonio and OKC are probably the two best teams in basketball.”
On San Antonio’s guard depth:
“It’s because of Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper and [Julian] Champagnie and Sixth Man of the Year, Keldon Johnson. I mean San Antonio’s got weapons all over the place at the guard spot, maybe not the point guard spot because of De’Aaron Fox being out, Stephon Castle has on-ball responsibilities and he’s had 20 turnovers in the first two games.”
Jaxson Dart
On dreaming of similar success for the Giants:
“I mean, I’ve been dreaming about that since the day I got drafted here. Those are conversations I even had with Coach Harbaugh before he even took the job here. I think everybody in the facility wants that. We’re all supporting the Knicks right now and what they’re doing. It’s been really cool to see. We want that for ourselves as well.”
On New York as the best place to win:
“It was very prevalent last year as well … but this year I think they’re on a whole ’nother level. This is the best place to be to win.”
On attending playoff games at the Garden:
“I would like to … only thing is some of those games are really late.”
