Knicks Bulletin: ‘They called a foul. It’s a foul. Inexcusable mistake’

New York hosted the Bulls and they couldn’t have been closer to getting a dub in their bag—twice.

One less bounce, and we would have drunk champagne. No luck, though, as the rim had other plans.

The Knicks returned to MSG to start a four-game homestand, but they couldn’t go to sleep with a dub in their collective bag. Chicago avoided a catastrophic loss after leading by 22 points on Wednesday’s 124-123 New York’s loss.

Here is what Coach Thibs and a few other Knicks said before and after yesterday’s sad defeat.

Tom Thibodeau

On Josh Hart’s game-losing foul:

“…”

On the Knicks’ defensive improvement:

“It’s a work in progress. I liked it in the second half, but we have to be better defensively.

“You can’t put yourself in a hole and expect to fight back every game.”

On Hart’s style of play:

“[Hart] brings pace. He can push the ball and make a play and play off people. He’s a great cutter. And so, he’s just a basketball player. He’s comfortable in the paint, he’s comfortable at the rim. He’s comfortable just making plays in transition. He can initiate offense for you. He can guard everyone. He has a great knack for the ball. Range rebounds. Go get them from anywhere. Give you extra possessions. I think that goes a long way. Those hustle plays are huge for the team.”

Josh Hart

On his late foul in a loss to the Bulls:

“They called a foul, so it’s a foul. Inexcusable mistake. They got a good screen on the top and I was behind. I just went up to contest it. And yeah, it’s a foul.”

On the Knicks overall performance on Wednesday and his game-losing action:

“We lost the game because I fouled at the end. There’s no silver lining. There’s no other excuse. I made an inexcusable mistake at the end of the game and it cost us the game. And now there’s nothing we can do about it.

“It was a tough one. It should have been a big statement win for us. It was the first win where we really got hit and really turned to swing back. I got to be better. That one is on my shoulders.”

On the final play by Jalen Brunson:

“That’s someone we trust with the ball. My thought process in that moment is to be in a position to go up for a rebound… Tough one.

On the role of glue players around the league:

“Teams that have always won have players who fit that mold. Teams now are trying to focus on getting their couple of stars and then find those guys who fit around them.

“You look at Boston, and they have their (star guys) and then they have Jrue (Holiday), who has been an All-Star in the league, All-NBA player, and he fits that role of playing defense, rebounding and getting guys in position to be successful. And then if he needs to, he can score with the best of them…

“I think (the appreciation for glue guys) has always been there, but it’s starting to get a little bit more love now.”

On his evolving role with the Knicks:

“I’m still lost. I’m still trying to find my way.”

On his approach to contributing in games:

“I’m out there just trying to connect the dots.”

On realizing he had posted a triple-double against the Sixers:

“I was like, ‘Oh wow, nice.’ I’m not going to say that’s my job, but in that unit (the starting five) a lot of times people think it’s just about points—whoever scores the most points has to start.

“My job in that unit is to rebound, bring energy… I got four guys that shoot high 30s if not 40s from three, that can finish in various different ways.

“What I want to do is get in the paint, kick out, have guys getting involved, feeling good. When those guys feel good offensively and defensively we’re a heck of a team.”

Mikal Bridges

On the disappointing loss to Chicago after a monster comeback:

“It hurts. Especially as competitors you want to win all the time.

“I think the coach helped us talking to us. We learned how to battle back and keep fighting. But honestly, we want to win. It’s tough.”

On Brunson’s last-second shot that missed:

“I thought it was in, and then it wasn’t. It hurts, but we have to learn from it.”

On facing his former Nets during the weekend:

“It’s good to see my guys, I’ve got a lot of good friends over there.”

Jalen Brunson

On his final shot against the Bulls:

“They contested it pretty well. But I’ve worked on that shot since high school.

“The ball was halfway down, but can’t really say much about it.”

On missing a great opportunity to beat a sub-.500 team:

“Obviously, the way the game turned out is not the way we wanted. We have to look at the positives. We can’t look at the negatives. We have to see what we can work on and go from there.”

On Towns’ impact on the Knicks:

“With what he is able to do on the court, he makes it look effortless. That’s just who he is. It’s great to see him on our team now, but we’ve seen him do this the last 10 years.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

After a 46-point game that ended in a loss:

“I don’t care about that. If there’s no W attached to it, then it’s a bad night.”

On being upset with his free-throw shooting on Wednesday:

“Today was a disappointing display of free throw shooting by me. Even if it’s in and out, I expect to make them all.

“When you look back at the game, especially when you don’t come out with a win in a tough game like this, you look at everything you could have done in the mirror. You make some of those free throws, at least two to three of them, you put your team in a different position.”

On Wednesday’s loss:

“We win together, we lose together.”