Knicks Bulletin: ‘I love the connectedness, the unselfishness, the hustle’

Five wins in a row as New York City has the hottest team in the League.

The Knicks failed to make history on Wednesday as they couldn’t hit 143-plus points for the third straight game. Ah, first-world problems, those are. . . .

New York hosted Denver, beat the Jokic Jokers by a solid score of 122-112, and sealed a regular-season-series win against the Nuggets 2-0.

Here’s the latest we’ve heard from Coach Thibs and a few other Knickerbockers and South Parkers.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Knicks’ performance against Denver:

“Just be consistent. You have to play all 48 minutes against them. I think every aspect of your defense will be tested. There are times where you defend them perfectly and they’re still going to make.

“And that’s the mental part of it—to keep coming back time after time, and then offensively you have to execute.”

On the Knicks’ success against the Nuggets:

“It’s a good win. We don’t want to get carried away with ourselves. We’ll enjoy it but there’s things that we have to continue to improve upon.”

On Nikola Jokic’s impact:

“Where do you want to start? It’s just everything. He’s a 7-footer with great touch, an unbelievable passer. He has a great understanding of the game, thinks on his feet, makes them play fast. There’s no holes in his game, really. He has the ability to make everyone around him a lot better, as well. And he plays to win.”

On how they beat Denver:

“I thought a big key was Jokic getting into early foul trouble.

“Our bench was also terrific. I thought Precious was terrific when KAT got into foul trouble.

“I love the connectedness. I loved the unselfishness. I loved the hustle.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s recovery:

“He’s running, jumping—doing all that stuff. He hasn’t had contact yet, and that’s really the next step for him. There’s some contact, but it’s very controlled.”

On Robinson’s return timeline:

“Look, he’s doing really well. I’m trusting the medical people. When he’s cleared, he’s cleared. We’re not gonna rush it. We’re gonna be patient. Whether it’s this week, next week, the week after—wherever it falls, it falls. But we want him completely healthy before we put him back out there.”

On reintegrating Robinson into the rotation:

“Obviously, he’s not going to be playing starter’s minutes. He’s got to get acclimated to playing again. So whatever medical says, how he feels—there will be a ramp-up, and we’ll go from there. We’re excited for whenever he does come back.

“We’re almost 50 games into the season, so we have a set rotation. We know there’s going to be an adjustment period. That’s what I love about Mitch—he’s always been this way, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench.”

On picking All-Star reserves:

“It’s really an impossible task. You try to be as fair as possible, you weigh it out and usually there’s two, three guys at the end that you could make a case either way. And then you tend to go with the winning aspect of it.

“You have to decide on something that separates. And it’s unfortunate. And then you’re hopeful that in some ways they can get named later.

“But there’s always going to be a couple guys that get left off that are going to be deserving.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On Josh Hart’s All-Star candidacy:

“He’s one of the most crucial parts of one of the teams that have the best record in the East. I think Josh Hart is the heart and soul of this team. I know everyone wants to pick other people, but I think when you’re in this locker room, you know what he brings to our team. And there’s so many things that Josh Hart does.

“I’m super happy the stat sheet is showing the work he puts in, but there’s so much more that he does that doesn’t come up on a stat sheet that’s so important for us.”

On Nikola Jokic’s talents:

“Joker is a hell of a player. It’s so fun to get to play against him. I feel like I learn a little something every time we play against each other. Shout out to him. He made me better.”

On the Knicks’ defense against Jokic:

“He’s one of the best players in the NBA. So it takes a team effort and be willing to take the competition and take the matchup. And all I can say for me is I wanted to make it difficult on him and make him have to consistently think about the pressure we had to apply.

“When you have a player who is that special, you want to make it as difficult as possible. And I think that’s what our team did is just try to make him think, try to make him second-guess, which is something he doesn’t do much of. He’s so talented.”

On Jalen Brunson’s performance against Denver:

“He was just special. Cap’ is special. Everyone knows. We needed him to score tonight, we needed him to do what he does best. And he did that. That’s why he’s special.

“Whenever his name is called in the biggest moment, he’s ready.”

On the Knicks’ recent success having won five games in a row:

“I think tonight was a great opportunity for us. I think no one has ever judged [negatively] our offensive firepower, but I think these last couple of games we’ve been able to show execution defensively. We’re on the attack and making the teams turn the ball over.”

On the ever-improving team cohesion:

“I think we’re just getting cohesive, we’re all new to playing with each other.”

On Jokic’s comments on the Knicks being a top-5 team in the League:

“I have a lot of experience, if you can take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.”

On the next few games left before the All-Star break:

“We have some good teams rolling in here and the West is difficult. We just have to continue to be a better version of ourselves.”

Jalen Brunson

On the Knicks’ winning streak:

“We’re in a good spot right now. I love how we’re playing. It’s something we’ve got to continue.”

On how they’re able to stop opponents from going on big runs:

“I think it’s a mixture of us and a mixture of the crowd, as well. I say it all the time, it’s the best place to play and the way they back us, it definitely helps.”

OG Anunoby

On his recent offensive success:

“Just stepping into my shots with confidence. [And] my teammates trusting me and finding me when I’m open.”

Josh Hart

On whether the Knicks’ winning streak is making a statement:

“I don’t think so. I think we’re just playing good basketball.”

On playing unselfish basketball:

“We’ve got to be a team that’s egoless. Don’t run with it. That’s just, in general, as a blanket statement.”

Michael Malone (Denver Nuggets Head Coach)

On getting into a tough matchup against the Knicks:

“Look at what they did their last two games averaging 143 and making 17 threes in both games. They score 20 a night in transition and 64 in the paint and dominated the offensive glass.

“They are impacting the game across so many levels. Sometimes it’s like they are going to run you out of the gym.… I don’t see a weakness. And that’s always scary when you are about to play a team that is playing that well.”

On Jalen Brunson’s third quarter:

“Jalen Brunson had an amazing third quarter. I could’ve done a better job getting the ball out of his hands—he had 18 points in that quarter.

“He’s a good player and they’re a very good team.”

Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets Player)

On the Knicks’ chances of winning the title:

“They’re playing really well. They’re well coached, they’re pushing the pace, and in the half-court, they know what they’re doing. So they’re a really good team.

“I think they are the favorites—not the favorites—but I think top five candidates for the title.”