The Knicks didn’t quite convince in their win over the Teal Bees, but a win’s a win.
New York hosted Charlotte, drove LaMelo Ball mad, and the youngest of the Big Baller Brothers nearly pulled off the comeback. Too bad it was one vs. a bunch.
Here’s what a few Knickerbockers said before and after yesterday’s game.
On OG Anunoby’s recovery:
“He’s still progressing in the right direction. We’re not going to rush him.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns’ performance:
“KAT was unbelievable. One turnover, he played 39 minutes tonight. 35 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, like I said, one turnover, that was a phenomenal game by him.”
On Ariel Hukporti’s effort:
“I’ve done this for a while, but our defensive player of the game was Ariel. He had zero defensive rebounds, and he fouled out. Interesting, but having said that, his impact was huge. Had a couple of blocks, 50/50 balls, he went vertical a couple of times and changed shots in the paint. I’m happy for him. This is a guy that hadn’t played much in a while. He logged [good] minutes for us, in his case, 12 minutes, or a little over 12 minutes.”
On the value of his staff’s input in bringing Josh Hart back to the starting lineup:
“I rely on my staff. I had reasons why I started [Hart on the bench], but my staff, all of them, was like ‘hey, these are the reasons why it would be better.’ The reality of it is, I just listen to my staff. If I’m the only one thinking it would be better at that time, then maybe I’m wrong. I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again in the future. That’s what I love about my staff, we have guys who are not afraid…to tell me what they think. I’m not always going to listen to them, but if my whole staff is telling me something, I better open my eyes and ears and figure out what they are really trying to say and maybe follow their lead instead of my lead all the time.”
On Guerschon Yabusele’s changing role:
“Our five is usually the one that’s setting the screens. He’s playing the four right now. There’s a lot of ways he can get involved as the four. For instance, on a made bucket, if he takes it out he’s going to be involved in the action right away. It all depends on where he is and where he’s sprinting to as we’re going down the floor determines how much he’ll be involved. It’s hard to get pick-and-pop stuff with the way we play if you’re not playing that center spot.”
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On lineup decisions and rookies:
“It’s a game of runs. That’s why I’m not necessarily afraid to start a rookie at times, if I think the matchup is right or whatever, because I don’t think you’ll ever lose or win a game at the start. The NBA is a long game and the opponent is gonna eventually make a run. There’s times when we stretched [the lead] and held on to it, that’s unusual for the NBA.”
On Ariel Hukporti as Defensive Player of the Game:
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done this before, but our Defensive Player of the Game was Ariel Hukporti. He had 0 defensive rebounds, and he fouled out. But his impact was huge. Couple blocks, 50–50 balls, he went vertical couple times and changed shots in the paint, so I am happy for him, and this is a guy who hadn’t played much in a while. He logged a lot of minutes for us in his case, 12 minutes or a little over 12 minutes, but he was our Defensive Player of the Game.”
On Jalen Brunson’s gravity and playmaking space:
“When you’ve got one of the best players in the NBA like [Brunson], the gravity he attracts allows us the opportunity to do something special. Just taking the opportunities the defense was giving me, and while doing that, being aggressive in playmaking.”
On the Knicks’ defensive effort:
“JB draws a lot of attention. Our team did a good job of utilizing the gravity when he was on the court and getting some good looks, getting some turnovers. I thought we did a great job defensively, making them speed up their game and playing Knicks basketball, which is translate turnovers to offense.”
On the Knicks’ offensive balance and Brunson’s impact:
“When you got one of the best players league like JB, like I said, the gravity he attracts, it allows us a chance to do something special. Taking opportunities the defense was giving me, while doing that, being aggressive, whether it was scoring or passing to my teammates.”
On blown leads and staying focused:
“Teams aren’t just going to lay down. We build a lead, you’ve got to anticipate they’re going to fight back, they’re not just going to give up. We’ve got to do a better job of slowing down their runs and limiting them. But we can’t let them get all the way back like we’ve been doing. But I think first and foremost, how we respond to that is how we get better as a team. As long as we’re making strides in that direction we’re improving.”
On bouncing back from recent struggles:
“We could have easily chalked it up and said we tried. Continue to fight, continue to stick together. Find a way to make plays defensively, got out in the open court, a good way to bounce back tonight.”
On measuring progress:
“I think first and foremost, how we respond to that is how we get better as a team. As long as we’re making strides in that direction we’re improving.”
On the need for keeping leads and more urgency:
“Yeah, I just think we have to make sure we… I don’t wanna say put teams away, because obviously it’s early, it’s so early in the game — but we’ve gotta continue doing what we’re doing. So we’re learning, we’re growing.”
On handling a back-to-back challenge:
“Today was a tough one, a back-to-back with a team that runs and it was a tough one. But a win’s a win, and we’ve gotta make sure we learn from it.”