Knicks Postgame Reaction To Game 4 Win Over Celtics To Take 3-1 Series Lead | New York Knicks

Knicks Postgame Reaction To Game 4 Win Over Celtics To Take 3-1 Series Lead | New York Knicks

Josh Hart is across the street. He now joins us. Uh Josh, thanks so much for joining us. Congrats on a great win. Tell us about the second half. You guys were dominant after halftime. How’d you do it? Yeah, man. I uh I think it kind of started in the second quarter. Um I think we only allowed 23 points in that second quarter. The first quarter is what really killed us. So, we knew um you know, and it was the last couple minutes of that first quarter, so we knew we had to pick it up. We did on the the second quarter and then coming out of halftime, we knew we had to really bring it in. That’s what we did. Josh, when they’re hitting threes like they were doing early in that game, just like they were doing in game three, it’s got to get demoralizing in this game. Did you just not allow that stuff to affect you? Yeah, man. Um, that’s why you need to play every game um as hard as you can with a sense of urgency and a s sense of desperation in the playoffs. Um, we let them get confidence uh last game coming out and knocking down shots in the beginning of the game and we couldn’t put out a fire and they came in with confidence because of that. And uh fortunately, you know, we were able to get stops defensively um get out and run and have uh play Nick basketball and have fun. Josh, Jaylen was Jaylen, but there were contributions all over the roster from that locker room. Everyone seemed to get unlocked in today’s game. How did it happen? Um no, man, it was huge. Obviously JB does what he does, but um Cat, I mean, you know, played a great game. OG um let the game come to him and knocked down big shots and got big defensive plays. And then Muel Bridges, man, you can’t say enough about him. All the adversity that he’s had this season and he just keeps coming through for us in the clutch, man. So, um you got to give credit to those guys. I mean, they played played well. And shout out to PJ Tucker for um you know, making sure we’re we’re up, we’re talking, you know, he he brought that championship pedigree to us and um he deserves a big shout out. What did what did what did PJ have to say to the guys? Did he have a speech or something about what you’re referencing? No, man. He he’s just something that always talks to us. Um and uh you know, he he’s a champion and he he’s bringing that mentality. Questions? Tom, obviously they did hit some tough shots, but it felt like you guys were pretty connected for most of the part defensively, offensively good in the second half. What do you think of this group’s performance in totality? Well, I thought, you know, they hit us early uh and and obviously, you know, we got we got in a hole, but I I love the way we fought back, showed a lot of toughness and more discipline uh in the second half and then uh timely plays, everyone working together on both ends of the floor. So, I think it starts with your defense uh and then you have to have a lot of toughness and then you have to do it together. And I thought the guys did that. what you see with uh with Kelly in that fourth quarter. It looked like he was a little bit more assertive and trying to get his mid range off. Yeah, just you know reading the game extremely well uh getting to his spots. Uh he had and he had some big time rebounds in traffic, some tough plays. Thought he was terrific in the fourth quarter. Thought OG gave us a huge game and I thought uh Jaylen of course was timely shot after timely shot, but I thought Mitch gave us big minutes. Cat gave us really good minutes. uh deuce was got us at a at a faster pace. So, I thought that was good for us as well. Say you don’t want to do this, but you’re down 14 again in the third quarter. Just kind of what it says about this team to keep coming back. You just got to keep fighting, you know, and that’s that’s sort of the nature of the game. There’s, you know, when you’re playing a three-point shooting team like that, there’s going to be variances in the game where there’s runs and you can’t go away. You got to keep fighting. Uh and they have the ability to, you know, make tough shots. I thought, you know, Tatum had a a monster game going. He’s a great shot maker. Uh, and I thought a lot of the the shots were challenged well and he has the ability to make and we we have to have the determination to come back to do it over and over again and stick together. Tom, what about the building and the electricity in the air when you guys were responding? Yeah. Yeah. And we always say, you know, we got the best fans in the world and the arena’s great, the atmosphere, but we got to make sure we give them stuff to cheer for. So, I think it’s important to understand what goes into winning. And you have to earn your wins in this league. They’re not given to you. And so, the building is not going to win the game. The you know what, whatever the series, each game, you got to go in and put the work into winning that particular game. That’s the only thing that matters. Tom, you mentioned um OG and what he gave you. It looked like he grabbed at his hamstring late in the first quarter, went to the locker room, came back. Um just what did you see from him after he came back and the shots that he hit in the second? Yeah, just you know, toughness, you know, timely plays, flying all over the place, made that that was a huge steal that he that he made for us. Uh but he’s so disruptive. is not only uh and and look when you’re guarding a guy like Tatum uh that you know there’s a lot of stuff that he has to navigate through uh and you there’s times you you defend him well he he’s still going to make but to do it over and over and not get deterred and to keep fighting and you know and then to make those plays that he made in the fourth quarter says a lot about and and there was a lot of talk earlier in the series about about Mitch and the free throws But they didn’t they didn’t falter tonight, but he gave you a bunch of offensive rebounds again. Uh just what kind of lift? Yeah, same thing. I you know the I think he and Cat played really well together. You know Josh was in foul trouble. So uh the two bigs and you know his defense, the offensive rebounding that’s huge for us. Tom, you guys have kind of flipped the switch with the defensive rebounding the last game and a half. How important has it been to keep them off the offense? Well, it’s huge because you got to finish your defense against them. uh you can get the initial part right and then you can challenge the shot and then they’re they’re very quick to the ball and their guards pursue. Their bigs are relentless. You got to make sure you’re getting bodies on them and and you know when you’re switching you got sometimes you got smalls on bigs. Uh but you have to have the toughness to get the job done. Just get out in there and battle. Tom, speaking of Mitch, he affects the board so much even on plays where he doesn’t get rebounds. What what do you feel like he he gives you guys even on the plays when he’s not getting boards? How how is he actually impacting? Well, the it’s again it’s the pressure he’s putting on the rim and then the threat of the offensive rebound and the extra possessions and what that means to the team and the value that it brings to the team. And then I thought he and Jaylen connected on the lob. So I think that that having that pressure there is huge for our team. And there’s not really a stat for that, but it what it does is it creates advantages for us. Tom, um, MueL kind of struggled in the first half, but what you know, what did it what did you see from him in that fourth quarter and just his demeanor, you know, and that that’s what I love about him. He’s he played hard the whole game, you know, I thought he had some good looks. They didn’t go in, but you know, that didn’t sway him at all. Uh, and then he got going he big time in the fourth quarter. Those were huge shots he hit. Tom, second half of the fourth quarter, you had Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride out there. What led you to go with those two and what did you see from the group during that? Well, the the starters went on a run, so we ran with that longer and then uh Josh got in foul trouble so we and that’s that’s what really led to that. And then Cat needed a rest and so we we were just reading the game. All right, a couple more. Tom, you you always say Jaylen gives you your best when his best is needed. just that third quarter he comes out 16 points in the period. Just what did you see from him in that period to to go on that run that he had? Yeah, just reading the game, you know, he knew that we needed to be aggressive and I thought that helped set the tone for what we were trying to do. Coach, on that challenge where Josh got his fifth, um what did your guy see for you to challenge it and and clearly the referee said it was a trip. So, what did your guy see that cause you to want to challenge that? I you know, I agree with our challenge guy. I disagree with the judgment on it, but sometimes that’s the way it goes. You deal with it, but uh when you look at body position and you look at the things that occurred on it. Yeah. Thought it was a good challenge. Tom, uh 39 points for Brunson in a game like this. That’s huge. Like what makes him what makes him made for moments like this in the playoffs? Uh just the way he’s wired. A lot of poise under pressure. Uh his his confidence I think is always super high just because of the way he prepares and the way he works. So no moment is too big for him. You’re not going to speed him up. He he’s, you know, he’s not relying on athleticism, although he’s more athletic than people realize. And then uh just his fundamentals, his footwork to be able to get to the spots that he wants, he’s great at creating separation and he’s always got great balance on a shot. All right, last one. Tom, I don’t know I don’t think anyone knows the the word on it yet, but Tatum was out in a wheelchair um in tears. Just kind of thoughts on I guess if they have to go without him, what that means. Yeah, you know, I I never want to see a player get hurt and uh you know, he’s been a great player and he’s a great guy, too. So, uh I hope it’s not a serious injury. Thanks. Using the word execution, the team needed to execute better. How did you like how the team executed tonight? I mean, I thought we did a great job. But you know they came out defending champions with a a bunch of energy and they executed at a high level start the game. I thought we did a great job of just staying strong, staying disciplined. Um continue to believe in each other and uh found ourselves executing you know what we had to do to find a way to win. You know this team is their team is special. They’re defending champions. Uh it takes uh it takes a whole team to beat them. What is as as a fellow very tall person? What what is it like watching Am I tall? No, I think you’re tall. Oh, okay. Shout out to my tall people, guys. Mitchell Mitchell Robinson is is also very tall. What’s it like watching a dude like that just take over the offensive boards like he’s I mean that’s that’s he’s special, man. I mean, you know, you you you when you’re when you’re playing against him, you understand what he brings to a team and when you’re playing as his teammate, you you can see even more the magnitude, the um the impact he has in the game. and he was just special tonight and um doing everything we needed him to do whether it was guard guards guard their big they’re big men who are also getting big rebounds alley oops timely buckets you know he was able to do it all so shout out to him man you know maybe he deserves those pickup trucks in such a tough game with such an amazing response from the Knicks can you desri in such a tough game no with such an amazing response from the Knicks can you describe the emotions the feelings you had on the court playing in this building. Uh I mean, you know, just these fans have been special all year and they uh when you got the fans we have when you have a city that’s supporting you the way our city does, you know, anything’s possible and um it’s because of them that you know we enjoy and we have such a joy in our hearts coming to work every day. So uh shout out to our fans, shout out to the city really supporting us throughout these the es and flows of the of the season. The Tims talked before the series about the type of pride it’s going to take defensively to compete with a team like this and your defense on an island against Tatum and Brown throughout this whole series was really good. Just how would you interpret the way that you played against them and uh kind of the team as a group rising to the challenge on lie man. Tatum was hitting some some some shots at the end, bro. Man, I was that’s all I could do. But, you know, shout out to him, too. I’m praying for him. If you saw me on the court, I just wanted to pray for him. You you look bad. So, um prayers with him and his family. uh you never want to see anybody in the NBA get hurt like that and I hope it’s something uh minor and not something major. So uh that’s first off but uh you know I just like I said this team needs to do whatever it takes to win and um you can’t speak it without doing the action you know uh I want to I want to be able to walk the walk and also talk the talk. So, shout out to my teammates trusting me in these situ in situations and u you know I’m happy that I was able to uh at least like you said make it tough on him make that and say that first and foremost um thoughts and prayers with him and um just praying for the best. Obviously another another crazy game, crazy runs, whatnot. Just how do you process the the comeback, the win and and what it means for for the series right now? Uh it means a lot. Um it was a big game for us. Um just the way that we’ve responded. Um it’s what I’m most proud of. Um sticking together and just making sure we’re not quitting and um that’s a tough team over there and obviously we want to get out to better starts and uh but they they got experience. They they’ve they’re the defending champs for a reason. So um a lot of credit to what they do. I’m just happy with how we fought. Hi over here. Jaylen uh male wondering your vantage point on the play where you get the deflection, OG gets the run out, dunk, Tatum goes down. What did you see in that moment? What were you thinking when you saw that he was down? What was your perspective on it? Um I thought he uh should his ankle. Um and then um obviously we want to we want to go out there and compete. But uh but when a player of of his caliber goes down and he’s uh rolling in pain like that, you know something’s wrong. So um that’s why I just give my thoughts and prayers because you just you never want to see something like that ever. Uh either for either one of you. It felt like a lot of the shots they made early on were tough shots and you guys made them work. Did you guys feel like that in the moment that what you guys were doing defensively was working aside from maybe a few minor missteps here and there, but in total you guys were doing what you were supposed to do in this game. Um, early on I don’t think so. I think early on a lot of miscommunication transition, you know, Derek White getting a lot of looks. Um, they just made a lot of tough shots and um, you know, we can live with that. But, you know, early, you know, having the early struggles offensively, you know, we can’t let that, you know, happen on the other end. you know, we’re getting good shots for them.

Coach Thibs and the Knicks react after a 121-113 win over the Celtics to extend their series lead to 3-1 and put Boston on the brink of elimination. The Knicks take on the Celtics in Game 5 back in Boston on Wednesday night – catch the Pregame and Postgame shows to EVERY game on MSG Networks or stream on The Gotham Sports App. GothamSports.tv

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Knicks Postgame Reaction To Game 4 Win Over Celtics To Take 3-1 Series Lead | New York Knicks