Sad day in this crib, as the Knicks lost for the first time at MSG.
Not only that, but we’re awaiting updates on the concerning Jalen Brunson injury, making Wednesday night darker than black.
Here’s what the protagonists said before and after yesterday’s affair.
On Jalen Brunson’s injury:
“He turned his right ankle. That’s all I know.”
On Orlando’s dominance:
“They kicked our ass. It’s as simple as that. They came out with a physical presence that we didn’t handle well.”
On how the Knicks failed to react properly to Wednesday’s adversity:
“Our response, which I don’t like, was to go at the referees. I personally think that it doesn’t matter how the game is being called. If we’re locked in and we’re playing like we’re capable of, we don’t need to rely on the officials making this call or that call. Our focus in that area was not where it should have been.”
On blaming officiating not being the fix:
“In the first half, everything that happened on the court, we blamed the officials. And that was disappointing to see, because we were the culprits of a lot of stuff that happened out on the floor. Six of their first eight points came on the free-throw line. And we fouled them. I couldn’t even use a challenge because we were fouling.”
On early defensive breakdowns:
“When you dig a hole like we did in the first half, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be hard to come back and win the game.”
On their early lack of effort:
“We didn’t crash. Shot went up, and everybody just watched and then jogged back. And even though we watched and jogged back, they still – based on the way that we chart it – scored 33 fast-break points.”
On how to respond and adjust:
“If we’re a no excuse team, we gotta go play the right way as best we can and not lay the blame any place else except square on us. So it doesn’t matter if we play three games in a row, we gotta figure it out. And if we can’t, maybe I need to go deeper into the bench and play guys lesser minutes. Maybe that’s where I can help them.”
On preparing for physical teams:
“I think their starting five might be in the top five in net rating in the NBA, so they can hurt you in a lot of different ways. We just have to match their physicality without sending them to the free throw line. For us, all the time but especially when you play good teams, you want to try to win the possession game. Free-throw attempts plus offensive rebounds minus turnovers. If a team is getting there 34, 35 times a game and we’re getting there 22, that’s a huge head start they got. So we have to be physical without fouling.”
On Mitchell Robinson’s plan going forward:
“Well, I’m not sure about that. We just gotta take that thing one game at a time and follow the lead of our medical people in terms of what the process is gonna be.”
On Robinson’s ramp-up efforts:
“I do know in terms of continuing to ramp him up, his stretches — he can go longer with his stretches. He can go longer with his minutes now than before. So it’s constantly on the rise, based off what [Knicks VP of Sports Medicine] Casey Smith and his group tell us night in and night out.”
On OG Anunoby’s development:
“He’s worked his tail off in the summertime, first of all, and then secondly, he’s just getting comfortable with what we’re trying to do. He knows where guys should be on the floor when he drives. He’s making quick decisions with the basketball.”
On Anunoby’s defense:
“Not only is he an All-Star, he’s an All-Defensive performer. In my opinion, he should have an opportunity, amongst others in our group, to fight for Defensive Player of the Year in the league.”
On learning from coaching Steph Curry:
“Yeah, I’ve talked to a couple point guards around the league throughout the course of the years I have a lot of respect for, especially the ball dominant ones that play pick-and-roll. And nobody can be like Steph, he’s an amazing player and an amazing person, too. Amazing family. What makes him so unique is the ability to play on the ball and off the ball.”
On Curry’s playoff value:
“So in a seven-game playoff series, teams have a hard time adjusting to him because it’s hard to take away everything. So being around him for six years, you learn a lot.”
On applying a Steph Curry-like game plan to Brunson:
”I always felt that if I ever had a team, I don’t care what my point guard is like, I’m going to try to get him off the ball so that he’s comfortable with it during the regular season. And then come playoff time, teams can’t sit on it and say, he’s dominant in the pick-and-roll so let’s keep it out of his hands. Now you’ve got to defend him in a lot of different ways.
“It’ll be hard to just get up and deny him, bully him, because he’s not just going back to get the ball every time. If the defense wants to play you this way, go to the corner. The ball will find you if we’re moving and spacing the right way.
“That’s what I did with De’Aaron Fox. He’s a pick-and-roll dominant guy, ball in his hands. And that’s what I’m trying to do with Jalen.”
On guarding against physical teams:
“I don’t think we responded properly [to Orlando’s physicality]. So, learned a lesson. We have a tough, physical opponent on Friday. And we got to respond.”
On Brunson’s injury:
“I have no idea. I’m dealing with my own stuff.”
On the offensive stagnation:
“Yeah, we played slower [against the physicality]. It’s tough to have success against a defense like that. Obviously they got extreme length, good shot blocking, good rebounding. When you slow it down against them, it’s a detriment.”
On learning from Wednesday’s loss:
“Learned [a] lesson. We have a tough, physical opponent on Friday. And we’ve got to respond.”
On what led to the latest defensive breakdowns:
“I think hesitation, lack of communication. We’re communicating late, and it’s too late by then. We’re in rotation and they’re getting open threes. We’ve gotta obviously stop the ball, then once a person does that, we’ve gotta feed off each other. Get the bodies, once we get the matchups, get into our shifts and help out.”
On why Orlando had success vs. New York:
“They came in with a game plan. They executed it. And we didn’t execute ours.”
On learning from transition defense lapses costing them:
“Transition threes. They hit threes and we didn’t do a good job of stopping the bleeding. It’s good to learn, it’s good to be reminded how great this league is and how great these teams are. It only takes a couple minutes to take away all the good work we did in a day.”
On how to fix their Wednesday woes:
“Just gotta be better. Simple as that. Just gotta do it.”
On the Magic’s edge over New York:
“We didn’t respond the way we should have. You can blame it on the back-to-back, excuses, but there’s none of that. They flat-out kicked our ass.”
On the Knicks’ defensive failures vs. Orlando:
“We need to exceed [their physicality]. Be more physical at the point of attack for defense. Finish plays. They outrebounded us way too many times and got second-chance points and you’ve gotta take care of those little things. On offense, you’ve gotta screen harder, cut harder, move the defense so they can’t be as physical.”
On why he got benched in the fourth:
“I’m not sure.”
On the Knicks’ frustration with officiating on Wednesday:
“Gotta leave the refs alone. Even if there’s fouls or something, everybody makes mistakes, just gotta let it go and bring energy to the other end.”
On improving his game:
“I watched a lot of film. I always try to improve on each and every game, and I watch a lot of basketball as well, so I’m always trying to pick up on stuff.”