If you’re like me, you can’t wait for Game 2 later today.
If you’re one of them, you probably want the series to be over with so you can pack your bags and spend two months in Cancun starting asap.
Here’s the latest from Tarrytown and elsewhere as we wait for tip-off at 8 p.m.
Mike Brown
On his calf injury scare from Game 1:
“It’s alright. I’m good to go. I would’ve
blown my Achilles out if I didn’t have on my P.F. Flyers. I had on my P.F. Flyers, so they help give me the support I need. It’s old school.”
On attacking James Harden in isolation late and not forgeting about the KAT-centric offense:
“That’s just the action we went to at the time, but we have a lot of other stuff, and we didn’t execute well throughout the course of the game. We have to do a better job of it. And we tried to clean a lot of it up today, and hopefully it will translate to the game tomorrow because I feel like everybody we have on the floor is dynamic. Our offense has been dynamic and we don’t want to lose sight of that.”
On adjusting offensively for Game 2:
“Kenny’s a great coach and we know they’re going to come out ready to play. They came to New York to get one game and it’s still within reach… They’re going to be ready, they’re going to mix it up. At the end of the day, it’s our job to make sure that we’re more efficient and we’re more diverse offensively so that nobody can sit on any one action we’re trying to run.”
On diversifying the Knicks’ offensive system:
“Trying to show the diversity our group has. Not just with the actions that we try to execute but with the players involved in it. I have to try to do a better job of helping with that diversity throughout the course of the game so that down the stretch we have a few more things that we go to.”
On the need for being more efficient and varied offensively going forward:
“They are going to be ready and mix it up at the end of the day. It’s our job to make sure we are more efficient and we are more diverse offensively so that no one can sit on any one action we are trying to run.”
On the week-long break before the ECF:
“It has more to do with having an edge, keeping a competitive edge. Games obviously help you with that because your body and your mind are constantly on when you are playing games. When they are off, you tend to relax. That is just human nature.”
On Brunson’s leadership during the comeback:
“He’s a leader. He’s our guy. And he felt we need to play faster. He felt we needed to be better defensively. There were a couple things that he felt, and he made sure that we knew and our guys responded to him.”
On Shamet’s bounce-in three:
“It was crazy. I kind of felt it was going in. I don’t know why. It was just one of those things. I was like, ‘I think that’s going to go in’ as crazy as it sounds.”
On expecting a bounceback from Josh Hart:
“When you are in the position that Josh was in or Mikal was in in the Atlanta series … they sacrificed their minutes willingly and they were great about it while keeping themselves ready. Mikal was fantastic … and I don’t see anything different from Josh going forward.”
Jalen Brunson
On the biggest takeaway from Game 1:
“I think more of the first three quarters is a bigger takeaway. They were playing great basketball, had us on our heels. Just got to give them a lot of credit. Obviously, we played well in the fourth and overtime. We got to come out ready to go. Honestly, I think we did. It was the middle, it was the middle of second and third quarter where we let go of the rope. That’s our biggest takeaway.”
On the team’s mindset fueling the comeback:
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s great to have a mindset of continuing to do the things that has made us a good team over the course of this year. Regardless of what the score was and being able to fight back, obviously, was great. I mean we don’t want to be in the position where we’re down 22 again obviously, but having that mindset definitely helps. Our fans kept us in it, so credit to all them.”
On shutting down social media during the playoffs:
“I’ve been shutting down social media throughout the series. Obviously, I think I’ve posted in between series, but I’ve been shutting it down, not opening it. Just focusing on what we need to do as a team, what I need to do individually. Just doing my best to have tunnel vision and stay focused.”
On learning from a win as well as from losses:
“I think a lot of people when they watch film after a loss, you learn a lot. I think you can still learn from a win as well. Obviously, you’re very thankful you got the win, but there’s clearly things that we need to work on to be better and not be in the position we were in. It’s definitely a lot you can learn, always.”
On Mikal Bridges stepping up late:
“It’s who he is. When he’s needed to step up, for as long as I’ve known him, he’s stepped up. It’s great to have guys like that — that you’ve known for a long time — be in those positions with you. We have a lot of fond memories of having big games and doing stuff like that.”
Miles McBride
On the Knicks’ relentlessness in Game 1:
“This team’s relentless. You never know whose night it’s gonna be, but we’re going to figure it out.”
On the long layoff before the ECF:
“We know it’s tough when you never had nine days off like that. Almost felt like a mini training camp in a sense. But I mean at the end of the day, it’s what our job is to go out there and get wins and we figured it out.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns’s disappointing Game 1:
“It’s tough to have that rest and then they’ve been playing. Things can be a little wonky at first, but he’s going to figure it out. I thought he had a solid game for us. The goal is to win, so he was a part of that.”
On Jose Alvarado’s vocal leadership:
“Honestly I’ve gotta shoutout Jose. Jose was just on us the whole game, talking to everybody, keeping us engaged, giving it up for everybody out there, but [when we were down big], he mainly talked to most of the starters and got them going.”
On Alvarado keeping everyone engaged throughout the series-opener comeback:
“Jose was big-time for us even when he wasn’t in, even for guys that weren’t in and might not get in, just [keeping them] engaged the whole time. That helps. Talking to a guy that might get back cut. Talking to starters, keeping them positive, keeping them engaged when things aren’t going their way. He was huge for us.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the defense carrying the comeback:
“And at the end of the day, great offensive plays by JB. Amazing clutch plays by Landry Shamet. Clutch plays [by the man next to me] Mikal Bridges. But it was our defense that has always been special in this playoffs and it was what carried us in this playoffs that showed up in the fourth quarter and in overtime and allowed us to be sitting here with a win.”
Landry Shamet
On the Knicks not flinching at the 22-point deficit:
“We have a group that didn’t flinch at that deficit and just went out there and made something happen.”
On Jose Alvarado’s impact from the bench:
“That guy, he’s as competitive as they come. Jose was, throughout the whole game, very engaged, coaching us, talking to coaches, talking to players, everything, getting guys going when we had a little lull. He does a lot for us and that’s my point: you need [everybody] 1 through 15, and even though his minutes were low and all of us want to compete and be out there, he’s still giving himself up to us to help the group. That’s what we need.”
On what he told the ball before it dropped:
“Just stay down. That’s what I said. ‘Stay down,’ and it stayed down.”
Josh Hart
On the emotional swing of Shamet’s shot:
“You’re deflated for 0.5 seconds, and then you’re hyped the next moment.”
On watching from the bench during the comeback:
“It’s always difficult, watching it on the bench. Obviously, I want to be out there. I want to help my guys win, but at the end of the day, for me, I don’t have an ego to it.”
On accepting whatever the Knicks need and ask from him:
“I don’t have an ego. I said it last year, the last couple of years I’ve been here: to serve these guys, and that’s the gift God gave me — God put me here to serve these guys and make sure they’re in the best position to be successful. And I put the success of the team over the success of myself any day.”
On his expectations for how Cleveland will defend him next:
“Yeah, probably the same game plan. For them, this is the same game plan that put them up 20 or whatever, and then we had that comeback so they’re probably gonna do the exact same thing. I’m gonna shoot the exact same shots, I’m gonna shoot it with confidence, play my game — whatever that is in the moment. But nah, I don’t think their game plan is gonna change too much.
On expecting a Cleveland response in Game 2:
“They’re going to come out with extreme energy, attention to detail, focus, sense of urgency and desperation. And we got to not match that, but we have to exceed it. They’re looking at it like, ‘That was our game we gave away.’ They’re looking at film of, ‘If we fix this here and fix this here, we would’ve won the game.’ And that’s what they’re gonna try to do tomorrow. So we got to make sure we come in focused and have a better start than we did.”
On Jose’s and the rest of the veterans’ leadership in the locker room:
“I feel like we all kind of do that and that’s just kind of the make-up of our team. He does that a little bit more in the huddle. Other guys kinda do that at different times throughout the game whether it’s in the huddle or pulling guys to the side during a dead ball or free throws. That’s what you need in the playoffs and adverse situations — for guys to talk and hold each other accountable kind of to steady the ship”
Mikal Bridges
On embracing defensive challenges:
“I think that’s just how I’ve always been, try to be a defender and make plays. Just taking on that challenge and definitely one of my roles is to play defense and to guard the best guys. … It’s always dope to have a challenge of guarding different guys who are really skillful, from Nickeil, CJ [McCollum], Maxey, [Paul George]. Now, to James and Donovan [Mitchell]. Something I always just embrace.”
Kenny Atkinson
On James Harden’s Game 1 defensive act:
“One thing about James: I’ll just defend him. He’s a good isolation defender, always has been. He’s super smart. I said it [Tuesday] night, he has great hands.”
On the need for better team defense to stop Brunson:
“[Brunson] hit two or three really tough shots on him, but the baseline drive [that tied the game with 19.3 seconds remaining in regulation] where our low guy didn’t come over and get a contest, that is team defense. At this level, it’s team defense. Sure, everybody’s putting it on James. A lot of it’s on the team, our team defense. … Sure, some of it was him, there were a couple of blow-byes. But again, I’d argue it was the team defense, too.”
On what he told Harden privately:
“Without you, we’re knocked out in the first round. We’re in a great position, you’ve played great. Sometimes micro experiences get exaggerated. Keep being yourself.”
On having dealt with playoff adversity before:
“We’ve been through it in the playoffs. I’m more like, ‘OK, here it is. This is what it’s about.’ You live between misery and awesomeness in the playoffs, and this is of course misery. But this is probably the fourth miserable game we’ve had in the playoffs. It’s like, ‘OK, get back on the horse.’ “
On leaning on the positives from Game 1:
“I want to lean on the positive. We had three quarters of really good basketball — some of the best basketball we’ve honestly played in the playoffs, offensively and defensively.”
Dennis Schroeder
On Cleveland controlling most of Game 1:
“We gave them a game. At the end of the day, we controlled the game — I think 90 percent of the game we controlled it. The last 10 percent, they did a great job. You have to give them credit, too, for not giving up and making shots at the end, and that was the game.”
Jarrett Allen
On responding with resiliency in Game 2:
“Just understanding that we didn’t have the best effort last night, we didn’t have the best outcome, and the resiliency is going to show [Thursday] how we come out. Just have confidence in yourself and the team, and know that we have to go get one [in Game 2].”
James Harden
On failing to defend Jalen Brunson:
“(Brunson) made some tough ones, but obviously we all know he’s a great one-on-one player and I think anybody on an island, it’s going to be difficult. So we got to do a better job of making sure he sees bodies. On the other end, they do a good job of supporting him and helping him when he’s on an island. So he made some tough ones, but we got to do a better job as a team just because it’s not a one-man job. So, you got to be better in that aspect. I think he made a couple of them, which really got them going.”
Donovan Mitchell
On supporting Harden defensively:
“There’s different coverages and different ways. Maybe we could have got to it a little bit earlier. Maybe get it out of Brunson’s hands. … This isn’t on him. This is on all of us. Just because of a certain stretch. Like, no. We still had opportunities on the other end as well to take advantage and score, and we didn’t. It’s not just on one person. He’s been around the league long enough — 17 years — he understands.”
Stephon Marbury
On stepping onto the court during overtime:
“I would like to issue a formal apology to every Knicks fan, every security guard, and especially Jalen Brunson not because I stole his shine, because I could never. That man owned the Garden. I just got swept up in the current like a plastic bag. My energy flew out of the roof, I lost my mind, and my feet carried me somewhere they didn’t belong. Thank you to the fans for the positive reaction it felt great, which is honestly concerning. Now… how about we run that back? Just kidding. Unless Jalen hits another one. Then all bets are off.”
Stephen A. Smith
On Brunson torching Harden in Game 1:
“Jalen Brunson goes ballistic and literally should be arrested for the assault that he put on James Harden. Just abused him at every single turn. Annihilated him kept going by him scored like 5 or 6 straight baskets.”
Charles Barkley
On Cleveland’s fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 1:
“You know, Ernie, I take my job very seriously. I don’t like getting on TV and saying people choked. But that was a damn choke job. I’m going to say that now, and I’m very selective when I say that.”
“So they had a 22-point lead, and they just started milking the clock. Like a prevent offense.”
“My problem was, if you go back and look, and you show those highlights in the beginning, the ball was moving. Everybody was getting wide-open shots. You go back and look at the first six or eight minutes of that fourth quarter, and they were just going one-on-one. The shot clock was on their back every single time, and Kenny should have called a timeout sooner.”
Carmelo Anthony
On inviting Jeremy Lin to clear the air publicly:
“Jeremy Lin, I’m giving you my invite to come sit on the couch. Let’s have a conversation, let’s clear the air on a lot of bullshit that’s out there please. And I love what you’re doing right now, man … Come speak the truth.”
On rumors that he disliked Linsanity:
“People always talk about … nobody liked the Linsanity … personally me, you get what I’m saying? They throw that out there.”
On supporting Linsanity behind the scenes:
“But people don’t know that, behind the scenes, we were very supportive of this.”
On the business potential of Linsanity and conversations with Lin:
“Linsanity could have been a $100 million business easy and I’m trying to get this through to him. He was like, ‘Nah, I’m not brought up on that, my parents.’ But I respected that. I hear that, matter of fact, bring your parents in here, let us talk to them… It was [happening] so fast.”
Carmelo Anthony
On inviting Jeremy Lin to clear the air at his podcast:
“Jeremy Lin, I’m giving you my invite to come sit on the couch. Let’s have a conversation, let’s clear the air on a lot of bullshit that’s out there please. And I love what you’re doing right now, man … Come speak the truth.
“People always talk about … nobody liked the Linsanity … personally me, you get what I’m saying? They throw that out there.
“But people don’t know that, behind the scenes, we were very supportive of this.
“Linsanity could have been a $100 million business easy and I’m trying to get this through to him.
“He was like, ‘Nah, I’m not brought up on that, my parents. But I respected that. I hear that, matter of fact, bring your parents in here, let us talk to them… It was [happening] so fast.”
