Knicks Bulletin: ‘It definitely hits different to be home’

Once and for all, Karl-Anthony Towns & Mikal Bridges hooped inside MSG for the home team.

The New York Knicks won their second game of the preseason Wednesday by TKO over the hapless Washington Wizards by a monster end result of 117–94.

With the dub, New York improved to 2–0 in the preseason before welcoming Julius Randle (he won’t play) and Donte DiVincenzo back to MSG on Sunday.

Here’s what the protagonists said before and after Wednesday’s game.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Knicks’ new defensive scheme displayed against the Wizards:

“I liked the start of the game. I liked what we did defensively. The offense is still a work in progress.”

On playoff success and team play:

“I think to be successful in the playoffs you have to be strong on both sides of the ball. So that’s what we’re expecting from everybody.

“We want to be a five-man offense and a five-man defense. Let the game tell you what we’re going to do.”

On Karl-Anthony Towns’ performance at MSG after a slow start to Wednesday’s game:

“He started off maybe pressing a little bit, first time here.”

“I like the looks that he got. Just be patient. At the end of the day, it’ll work itself out. And it did. He stayed with it. He was not deterred. I thought he went to a little more playmaking and that led to more easy baskets.

“He got going to the basket. He got to the line. He got a couple layups. He’s a very gifted scorer. He can score a lot of different ways. He can score at the 3-point line. He can score off the bounce. He can score back to the basket.

“So if one area’s not going, go back to the playmaking. That opens the floor up for everybody.”

On bench players’ performance:

“I thought (Ariel Hukporti) was terrific—his energy, anchoring the D. Tyler (Kolek) played really well, Cam (Payne) was really good, Landry (Shamet) played well without scoring a ton of points.

“Playing off each other, those guys make quick decisions, and when we get to second and third actions good things come.”

On Jericho Sims’ injury sidelining him Wednesday:

“I think Sims tweaked his ankle during his stint.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s status:

“Mitchell Robinson is not doing any on-court work, just limited to rehab stuff for now.”

On Patrick Ewing’s new role as Basketball Ambassador:

“We’re just thrilled about that. Obviously, we know what he means to the organization and I think all his experiences, I think it’ll be invaluable to us from being involved with me, giving his thoughts.

“He’ll be here at times and other times he’ll be remote, watching the games and giving feedback. Also [he’ll be] working with Leon [Rose] in the front office and [William Wesley]. I think he can help from that perspective as well.”

Mikal Bridges

On getting the new starting five acclimated defensively:

“It’s all of it: preparation, communication, everything. Just being on the same page, and whoever the scout is, going by scout.

“Not going off on your own way, just going off the scout because if one person is thinking this and another person is thinking something else, it’s going to mess up the defense because then the other guys know what you’re supposed to do as well.”

Tyler Kolek

On playing at Madison Square Garden:

“To have that New York across your chest, it’s a different vibe—I’m super excited to get going.”

Josh Hart

On adjusting defensively:

“It definitely takes some getting used to (having KAT and others calling defensive assignments). I think all of us, at a certain point in our career, we took on the biggest guy, the biggest matchup.

“Sometimes when you’re in the game, you’re in the zone, having those competitive juices firing, you don’t want to switch anything. You want to get over every screener, you want to compete with the best of the best.

“So we’re going to have to figure that out, it’s going to be a lot of communication. I think there will be choice words sometimes and holding each other accountable.

“But I think I’d rather have that than the other way around. We got guys that can play and guard multiple positions at a high level. And we’re going to have fun with that.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On his MSG debut:

“Man, the fans have been great. It definitely hits different to be home.

“It’s been a blessing to be here, and I’m excited for all the games I get to play in front of these fans.”

On how does it feel playing a heavier amount of minutes in the second preseason game:

“Great. We worked tremendously hard at training camp so we’re ready for these moments.”

On his partnership with Jalen Brunson and the potential of it:

“We work hard every single day to make sure that it looks the best for these fans. So, we just want to translate it to winning, and we’re doing a great job of doing that.”

On his early shooting struggles on Wednesday and how he plans to make up for that in the future:

“There’s going to be tough nights when I’m not shooting well, especially at the Garden.

“Obviously the pressure’s different. Show mental toughness to my teammates and the fans even when things are not going well, I’ll pick it up on either on the defensive end, or just find the groove sooner rather than later in the game.

“For me it’s just stay mentally tough, continue to fight through the adversity and hit some shots when we needed to garner the lead. I’m just happy that a game like this was able to teach me a little bit.”

Precious Achiuwa

On waiting to sign his contract extension and ultimately staying with the Knicks:

“If I wanted to be somewhere else, I would not be here.”

On his versatility and doing whatever is needed:

“I know I’m versatile. Playing the power forward, the center, the versatility of my game stands out the most, and last year I was able to show a lot of people that I was able to do a lot of different things.”

On his role with Towns joining the team and filling the center role:

“Hopefully [Towns] will help me play more of the 4. But it doesn’t really matter.”

On the Knicks’ ultimate goal:

“I understand that we have a goal. And it’s just for me to see what I can do to help us reach that goal.”

Cameron Payne

On playing with Landry Shamet and Mikal Bridges again:

“It was cool man, it’s always fun to be out there with guys that you know.”