THE Knicks had a rough start to the month facing the Cavaliers on the road, playing the Sixers twice in three days and then take a trip to the West Coast for their next four games, but so far so good for New York as the Knicks have gone 5-2 in their last seven matchups.
On Saturday, in their second game away from Manhattan, New York beat Sacramento 98-91 and with that double, they went on a three-game winning streak while limiting each of their last five opponents to no more than 93 points.
Here’s what the protagonists from both sides thought of Saturday’s match.
Tom Thibodeau
On Jalen Brunson’s 42-point performance…
“You almost expect what Jalen did. It’s every night and it’s big game after big game. Every time we need a big bucket, he offers it.
“He’s such a gifted shooter. He knows he’s on the road. It’s going to be hard, and it’s not slowing him down.
On Brunson’s skill set and talents…
“The one thing about Jalen: he just wants to win. You can double pass him throughout the game to get the ball out of his hands, he’s not going to fight it. He’ll make the right play. That’s who he is.
“He’s going to make the right play. He’s not going to fight off a double team.” The game will tell him what to do. And obviously when teams are loaded, we want to play more out of transition. And when we do that, we are difficult to protect.
On OG Anunoby, who was “questionable” before Saturday’s game…
“OG is a basketball player. It does a little bit of everything. »
“Every game, as he goes through this coming back, there’s going to be some pain and you just have to see where it is. He participated in the filming (Saturday morning), so that was good.
“It’s just day to day. There will be days when there will be pain.
Alec Burks (18 minutes) and Bojan Bogdanovic (24) increased the playing time…
“We were just buying time. The group that was there (with Bogdanovic and Burks) was doing pretty well, so I thought about giving (Brunson) an extra minute here, a minute and a half. I knew they would be pretty loaded on him, so I wanted to make sure he had the energy to finish.
“[They were] huge for us. We know both guys are gifted shooters. Every day is a little better. I think these are difficult exchanges during the season. But you know what they’ve done throughout their career. We are lucky to have gotten them.
“Today was a good day because they were timely shots. And they are big guys. I’m improving every day, great minutes from our bench today”
Jalen Brunson
Beating rookie Keon Ellis one-on-one while taking advantage of the rookie looking away for a second…
“I saw him looking a little before. He turned his head once or twice, and then I just told Isaiah (Hartenstein) to come over and adjust the screen. He looked and as soon as he turned around I went.
“If he comes (to) adjust the screen, he comes to do it. I just read it. I’m just observing the field and kind of reacting. Once he turns his head, he can no longer (see) – unless he is a magician.
Joining Patrick Ewing, Bernard King and Carmelo Anthony as the fourth Knick with consecutive 40-plus point games…
“Grateful, honored…These guys have a bigger resume than me. I’m just trying to help my team win, that’s all.
Josh Hart
On Jalen Brunson’s 42-point performance…
“He’s our go-to guy. Great that he was able to get into this company (Melo, King and Ewing). This is an elite company.
“Maybe he’ll pass a little more in the next game.”
“That’s something we know, like, ‘All right, if we don’t shoot, we can always count on him to start the engine and keep going.'”
On the Knicks’ team defense against De’Aaron Fox…
“I was about to say, ‘Not me.’ This boy made me spin like a top.
On people overlooking the crumbling Knicks and only giving them a chance/if everyone is healthy…
“Every once in a while I check the Knicks Twitter and they’re always talking about what people are saying. Ultimately, we can’t listen to it. A lot of [experts] I’m saying these guys can make the Eastern Conference Finals, do this, do that, but only if they’re healthy. Only if they have Julius, only if they have Mitch [Robinson]or whatever.
“Right now we don’t have those guys. We don’t know when these guys are going to come back. So we can’t think about it and say, “Oh, let’s keep it afloat.” »
“I think it’s like we have to mind our business that’s in front of us. And if they come back before the end of the year, great. If they don’t do it, we’ll do it with the guys we have and we have the confidence.
Fighting to get a good ranking before the playoffs and not taking them for granted…
“You don’t get these opportunities often. This is my seventh year in the league and hopefully this will be my second year in the playoffs. You don’t want to waste any of these opportunities because they don’t come around often.
OG Anunoby
A random Saturday in Cali…
“I didn’t even know I was doubtful.”
Isaiah Hartenstein
On how the Knicks planned to stop a young, fast Kings team…
“We know they’re going to push the ball a lot. So we just have to make sure we get back on defense, that’s the most important thing. Just make sure after missed shots or turnovers, try to keep our turnovers low. Just get back on defense, that’s the most important thing.
Slowly but surely regain your confidence and physical fitness and increase your playing time…
“I mean, it’s a process. I think the Knicks organization is doing a good job of not rushing things and making sure we feel good. Everything is fine. I was good. OG has been good. We are on a good path now.
De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings player)
On the Kings’ defensive effort Saturday…
“Apart from [Jalen Brunson], we did a great job. But he had almost half their points…”
Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings Player)
On the loss against the Knicks on Saturday…
“They hit us in the mouth a little bit in the third quarter. We came back, we fought back…that’s something that…I’m happy that our team is physical.
“We’ll see this team again in a few weeks in New York and I think it’s great to have this kind of game before the playoffs.”
“I feel like we did a great job today (on defense) as well, we just couldn’t score as much as we usually do and stop Brunson. He is a top player.
Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings head coach)
On Jalen Brunson’s performance…
“Man, he’s a hell of a player. (Aside from) Steph (Curry) maybe, I don’t know if we bombarded anyone as much as Jalen tonight, tried to throw two (defenders) at him, and he still scored 42 points. … We double-teamed him every time he came out of the pick-and-roll in the second half and probably half the time in the first half. He’s a hell of a player. »
