The season-opening loss to the Celtics keeps reverberating in New York…
The Knicks fumbled the rock against the Celtics on Game 1 but that’s all it was: Game 1 of 82, not to mention what will come after that—hopefully, 16 wins and a chip.
It’s not that the protagonists of Tuesday’s Massacre left anything to say after they addressed the media postgame, but we’ve been able to get some new quotes from Coach Thibs and a few players touching on some off-court stuff of interest.
Here’s what we’ve been able to fetch in the past few hours as we wait for Friday’s home opener against Indiana.
Tom Thibodeau
On learning from the team’s loss to the Celtics:
“We’ll take a look at what we did, what we had to fix, get back to work.
“Every game reveals things to you. Sometimes you do things well, sometimes not as well as you need to. But understand why you lost or won and take the necessary steps to move forward.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the Knicks’ defense and what to do next:
“I feel very confident in our offense, (but) we’ve got to bring that defensive identity that’s going to make us special.
“Once we figure that out, we’ll take that next step and we’ll be able to be the team we want to be.”
On Juan Soto and rooting for the Yankees in the World Series:
“Juan Soto, in my opinion, is one of the greatest Dominican talents for baseball we’ve ever seen.
“He’s one of those guys when I get to watch from afar as a fan, even when he wasn’t on the Yankees, just to see the discipline he has at the plate, the power he possesses and the way that he commands the plate and covers the plate. In a way, the Ted Williams of our time.”
Josh Hart
On supporting the Yankees:
“I’m hoping they win it.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to get to go to any games with us being out on that road trip [next week].
“But super excited, man, for them as players, excited for the city, and I’ll be watching and supporting.”
On the loss to the Celtics’ impact in a potential playoffs matchup:
“I don’t really put too much into it. They won last year, obviously. Porzingis isn’t there right now. And it’s a new season, so I don’t think it’s anything more than opening night.”
On the Bible and its significance for him:
“I grew up in the church, but then it wasn’t as prominent in my life until probably a year ago. I got back into reading the Bible and getting back in touch with my religion more.
“I go to the free-throw line a lot. I do three dribbles and a spin. The spin is just kind of random. The three dribbles are always for the Holy Trinity. That’s something I’ve done since maybe middle school.”
On video games and his virtual rivalry with Jalen Brunson:
“I love gaming. I was hard-core into gaming three, four years ago, and then my wife fully moved in and started just ripping away a lot of my free time, and then kids—they rip away a lot of my free time. So when I get the chance, I always sneak my way down to the basement and play my video games.
“And then on the road, I set it up and play it. I mostly play sports games—I play Madden, FC25, College Football, PGA Tour. And I’m a little bit of a Harry Potter nerd, so once that came out, I was grinding.
“And Jalen sucks. Jalen’s trash. I beat him almost in every video game that we play on PS5 or the computer, but when he starts bringing up the Switch, he starts whooping my ass.”
Jalen Brunson
On what he saw from the Knicks on defense during the loss to Boston:
“Nothing. Plain and simple.”
On supporting the Yankees:
“Really cool. I’m really excited for them. Yeah, I hope they bring it home. I’m a little upset, I don’t think we have time to go to any of the games … but it’s gonna be alright. I have 100 percent faith in them.”