Knicks Bulletin: ‘We can’t just sit here and feel sorry for ourselves’

Indiana on the road tonight as New York tries to bounce back from a Boston loss.

After spending the days sandwiching the Super Bowl off, the Knicks will be back on a basketball court on Tuesday and Wednesday to put an end to the first “half” of the season.

New York will visit Indiana for tonight’s matchup while hosting Atlanta for the pre-ASW finale on Wednesday.

Here’s the latest from Coach Thibs and a few Knickerbockers ahead of Tuesday’s clash against Indy.

Tom Thibodeau

On rebounding from losses and not overthinking individual defeats:

“It’s a long season. It doesn’t change. Focus on each game. You learn from each game.

“Sometimes you fall short, and when you fall short you have to make the necessary corrections and get ready for the next one.

“You don’t want to be looking behind you. You don’t want to be looking down the road. You want to be looking at exactly what’s in front of you, and so that’s served us well so far. Just keep getting better.”

On the Knicks’ third-quarter rally before fading against the Celtics:

“We cut it to three with six minutes left to go in the third quarter and we had a couple bad fouls that gifted them points. And that was a big hit. You got to play 48 minutes against them.”

On the lineup changes forced by OG Anunoby’s absence, alternating between Decue McBride and Precious Achiuwa:

“(The lineup with McBride) is more perimeter skill. (The one with Achiuwa) is more big—rebounding, defense. That sort of thing.

“We had gotten into such a big hole (against Boston), we had to change what we were doing. Any time you do one thing, it’s going to make you vulnerable in another area. We were looking for something that would give us energy, give us a spark, and that’s where we went.

“So basically we just have to play better. It wasn’t on one particular guy.”

Jalen Brunson

On what he learned from the loss to the Celtics:

“I learned if we fight, we have a chance. I think last time it wasn’t even a game in Boston. So we got to give ourselves a chance. We got to be ready from the jump.”

On what went wrong against the Celtics:

“I saw us start off flat. And then I saw us cut a big deficit to three. And then as we were talking about (Monday), obviously, as a team—once they took that timeout and then we fouled a 3-point shooter, they went on a (run).

“The way we fought in the middle of the game is the way we should play throughout the game.

“I’ve said this—no matter who you play, it’s to see where you’re at. But with them, it’s a different standard. They’re the champs, so we have a lot of room for improvement, obviously. And we just need to be focused on that.”

On bouncing back from the loss to Boston:

“Yeah, we focus on that [rebounding]. We focus on that big time. It’s not easy, but we can’t dwell on what just happened.

“Obviously, we lost and we got our [butts] kicked. How do we move forward from that? We can’t just sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to learn.”

On the work left to be done before the All-Star break:

“Just focus on tomorrow and move on from there. Don’t want to go on break too early.”

On participating in the three-point contest:

“I lost it last year. Limited gym time so I can get some shots up.”

On the Eagles’ Super Bowl win:

“That was dope. That was really exciting.”

On drawing inspiration from Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni:

“Absolutely (I’m inspired). Obviously, all the criticism about Jalen Hurts and him not being a champ. And he’s said the whole time that he doesn’t care about anything individual. He just wants to win. So I commend him for that. And a lot of respect for (Nick) Sirianni. A lot of people were talking about him early in the year, saying he wasn’t the right man for the job. And then the same thing — he pushes through and helps his team win. So I was really excited for all of them.”

Josh Hart

On what went wrong against the Celtics:

“They played very well. We didn’t play well and they won. That simple.”

On the second-half collapse against Boston:

“We did a good job getting the game close. We were down three at one point. And then they were running a stack action, and we couldn’t stop it.”

On moving on from the Celtics loss:

“It’s one game in an 82-game season. To be too hung upon that is idiotic. We could win tomorrow by 30 and everyone is super excited and we’re the best team in the league. Or we could lose by 30 and you know we have wasted talent and we should blow it up and figure it out.

“I think it’s idiotic to judge or base a season on a game-by-game basis.”

On his knee soreness potentially leading to offseason surgery:

“I don’t know. We’ll see what it calls for at the end of the season.

“But, like I said before, I’m a servant to (my teammates) this year. I want to make sure I put these guys in the best situation.

“It’s not just for them. It’s also for (Tom Thibodeau). I want to make sure that I’m available to him, I want to make sure when I’m out there, I’m playing at a high level and playing the game the way I know how to play.

“If I’m out there, I’m healthy enough. And I’m good.”

On finding positives in playing the Pacers on the road:

“They’ve got two things (in Indiana) that I love, donuts and Caribbean food. It’s alright with me.”

On the Mahomes vs. Brady comparisons:

“There’s been a lot of comparisons. I don’t think there should be after that game.”