The Knicks won, as is their wont.
The Cavs got tossed, and lost.
Here’s a bunch of Kolekontent.
On sacrifice and connectivity:
“Everybody understands what our standard is — it’s about sacrifice. KAT sat most of the fourth, but he was still into the game. You could tell, because he had the biggest offensive rebound during the game. He was into it mentally, understanding that, ‘Hey, Mitch is out there balling. I’m gonna sit here and cheer my teammates on. When my number is called, I’m gonna be ready to go.’ It’s about connectivity. Our group is extremely, extremely connected. It’s about a competitive spirit.”
On Mitchell Robinson’s impact on Christmas:
“With all the guys, you see them from afar, you think certain things about them. You think, ‘He’s this type of player, that type of player, he has this type of attitude and personality,’ and then when you get around them and you actually see how effective he is in certain areas, you think, ‘No way he should be that effective.’ It’s like, ‘Wow.’ You can’t teach that.”
On second-unit belief in itself:
“Everybody believes in each other, no matter who is out on the floor. You feel that type of belief from your teammates, from your peers. Man, the sky is the limit, because guys in the NBA are talented.”
On the Christmas comeback vs. Cleveland:
“Our bench basically won the game for us. They put us in position down the stretch.”
On the importance of Thursday’s win:
“Maybe our best win because of the circumstances. There’s all types of stuff to make this game funky, but for our guys to keep battling and not get out of sorts — there could be a lot of bickering and finger-pointing but everybody kept talking about finding a way.”
On the Knicks‘ resilience:
“Our guys just found a way to get a win. That’s what you need throughout a long season.”
On turnovers and physicality hurting the Knicks against the Wolves:
“It’s gonna be hard to win on the road if you have 19 turnovers for 22 points off those turnovers. And part of it — those turnovers led to easy baskets in transition. Give Minnesota credit, because they brought a lot of physicality to the game and created a lot of those turnovers.”
On dealing with officiating:
“I talked to all of our vets. The officials, they’re not gonna help you win the game. They’re human. They’re gonna make mistakes out there. And we, as a team, starting with me, we have to try to leave the referees alone, because we’re good enough to still go win games.”
On young players needing to be ready:
“Our young guys, they gotta be ready. That’s what this league is about. You’re missing bodies, next man’s gotta step up. And again, I thought their physicality blowing up our dribble handoffs, fighting through passing lanes and us not doing any counters — like, if somebody gets my body and I’m about to come off a DHO, just pick it up and make cuts to the basket. You’re playing for the next guy. But we continually tried to give it to that guy and they blew up the DHO or they got to us when we dribbled and took it from us or however it may be.”
“I’m gonna knock that (expletive) down.”
On coaching accountability:
“He coaches me hard. You want a head coach that’s on you – if he’s not, that’s more of a problem than the other way around. When you’re a point guard, you’re an extension of the coach. If he’s trying to get his message across, he’s going to say it to you. Maybe he didn’t mean it at you, but he’s trying to get it across to everyone on the team.”
On playing hoops at MSG on Christmas:
“Playing at the Garden on Christmas, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
“When the game’s getting tight like that and you need a little energy, you gotta go crash the glass and get offensive rebounds the best way you can. Help the team win.”
On his rebounding mindset:
“My will. Go out there and fight.”
On the Knicks’ energy late to complete comeback:
“When the game is getting tight like that and you need a little energy, you crash the glass. I just keep crashing. Sometimes I get it.”
On Mitchell Robinson’s passing:
“When Mitch does get it, he’s surrounded by two or three bodies and there should be someone open on the perimeter. Mitch has a great knack for, if he’s not close to the rim, getting his eyes up and kicking it out. It says a lot about him. He wants to win and will do whatever it takes. That’s just who he is as a person first and foremost. He’s very selfless, and it translates to the court.”
“We kept fighting. It starts with Tyler, J.C., and Mitch, them bringing the energy that we needed, really picked us up.”
“Just our fan base, our fans are electric, and yeah, it was crazy, and I think Christmas has something to do with it. The way our bench really got us back in the game, and they got the crowd fired up as well.”
On finishing the comeback:
“It was ugly, but we found a way. We don’t want to be down 17 once, let alone twice. But it shows you the type of team we are. We’re growing as a team, and this is a big step for us.”
“It’s a testament to his mental strength, his mental fortitude and the work that he puts in.”
“Playing basketball on any day is special. Getting a win here on Christmas is special. There’s a lot of special things in my life right now. And this is adding to a special Christmas for me.”
On Tyler Kolek’s strip:
“Credit to him, man. I didn’t see him at all. I don’t slow up unless there’s nobody around; he was at the wing. I didn’t know anyone was behind, so credit to him. Hell of a play.”
“That is winning basketball, and he’s been unreal, so credit to him. I knew it wasn’t a foul as soon as they called it, so no shock there, but credit to him, though.”