The Knicks enjoyed an undeserved (following back-to-back losses) but needed (because there seems to be no player healthy in New York right now) day off on Monday heading into another pivotal game part of the home stretch of the regular season.
On Tuesday night, the Knicks will fight the Heat in Miami with the latter trying to escape the Play-In Tournament portion of the standings and the former aiming at overtaking the Cavs for the No. 3 seed in the standings before the curtain falls.
Here are a few quotes from Knicks players, staffers, and other personalities discussing what’s going on around Manhattan.
Tom Thibodeau
On the struggles of the Knicks to stay in games without Jalen Brunson on the court and three starters out of the lineup entirely…
“The thing is he’s got to go to the bench sometime, and right now when he’s out, we’ve gotta find a way to manufacture some points.”
“At the same time, you’re trying to buy a minute or two for Josh, and you can’t forget—we have three starters out right now, so normally you have two starters on the floor with your second group. But we’ve got more than enough.”
Josh Hart
On not playing up to standards when Brunson sits…
“We’ve got to figure out a way to, when [Brunson] is out, to get good looks, quality looks, get guys in the proper position, play to their strengths. I think that’s one of the big things.”
Isaiah Hartenstein
On the Miami Heat ahead of Tuesday’s matchup and having a bad series against them last postseason…
“Erik Spoelstra is a great coach. He had a lot of good schemes against us. But I think they just did more kind of what we did to Cleveland. They did that a little bit to us, but I think coming into it now we are just more ready and play more together.”
”I feel like last year I wasn’t as aggressive as I should’ve been with my stuff. I think that’s something new that we have.”
Shams Charania (NBA Insider)
On OG Anunoby’s injury and current status
“The hope is that the inflammation goes down at some point and he’s gonna be able to come back. The hope is that it’s going to be when more of like which day exactly which game exactly. When is he going to wake up feeling better, rather than if.”
On Julius Randle’s rehab progress…
“About Julius Randle, it’s a little bit more precarious. I mean, this is someone that’s been out since January 27. We’re already into April, and he still has not done anything more than controlled contact with a dislocated shoulder.”
“It’s a wait-and-see approach. It seems OG Anunoby is more likely [to return] than Julius Randle at this point. But we’ll see.”
Kendrick Perkins (Former NBA Player)
On the Knicks’ outlook heading into the playoffs…
“Yes, I’m going to go down with this ship if it happens to sink. I believe in Jalen Brunson leading this New York Knicks team even without OG Anunoby and Julius Randle to the conference finals.”
“Right now, the East is wide open. If they can stay away from the Boston Celtics. I believe that Jalen Brunson has the capability of dominating any series.”
Brian Windhorst (NBA Analyst)
On Jalen Brunson not getting the foul calls he deserves…
“[Brunson] doesn’t have the reputation of Harden or Trae Young, but he’s a foul hunter….he uses the dark arts. This is what the referees are cracking down on, the fouls that he gets sometimes are not what they’re going to give him.”
Stefan Bondy (NBA Analyst)
On the Knicks possible reasons for delaying Randle’s comeback…
“One explanation I’ve heard—which seems perfectly reasonable—is the high risk of re-injury with dislocated shoulders has left the Knicks prioritizing strengthening the area before the playoffs and believing fewer games is better. There’s less chance of hurting his shoulder, in other words.”
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