Knicks Bulletin: ‘We talk so much when we go to eat, we need to carry that’

New York avoided a massive collapse against Philly and went to sleep with a win.

The New York Knicks escaped a disastrous embarrassment on Wednesday by stiff-arming a stubborn Philadelphia 76ers squad that was oh-so-close to pulling off a 19-point comeback victory.

The Knicks, or better said Jalen Brunson, did enough to put those dreams to an end, ultimately winning the game and completing a 110-105 triumph over the Embiid-less Sixers.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few Knickerbockers said before and after yesterday’s affair.

Tom Thibodeau

On Mikal Bridges and the Knicks stepping up in Karl-Anthony Towns’ absence:

“It was huge. You’re not replacing a guy like KAT individually. You have to do it collectively, and I thought the way Mikal played, his aggressiveness to start the game, was huge.

“I thought Jalen and Josh [Hart], and everyone for that matter, started searching him out and trying to create advantages for him, so it was good team play. Mikal was terrific.”

On Bridges’ defensive effort against Tyrese Maxey:

“Mikal was terrific, the whole game. Not only his scoring but he’s on Maxey the whole time.”

On Ariel Hukporti’s first start with KAT out:

“He’s a young guy who’s learning and getting better. Each experience you’re gonna learn something. There’s good plays, there’s plays that obviously he can do a lot better, just gotta keep working at it.”

On OG Anunoby’s performance in his third game back from injury:

“He guards the tough matchup every night. Runs the floor, got us some easy buckets, moves without the ball, shoots the 3. Defensively terrific, terrific. Offense takes time to get rhythm back… seems like [it’s] starting to really come now.”

On Miles McBride’s shooting development:

“We saw his rookie year; we track all the shooting, and it was very accurate. He was putting a lot of time.

“It wasn’t translating to the games his first year, and part of that was him not being in the rotation. He was just filling in when someone was out. But we felt, with the way that he was shooting in practice, that it would eventually translate. It has.”

On Karl-Anthony Towns’ status before the game against the 76ers:

“KAT seems like he’s fine.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s status after missing another game:

“He’s doing well overall.”

On the importance of staying level-headed through ups and downs:

“Yeah, it’s just be ready for the next game. Doesn’t change how you approach things. Understand what goes into winning and be ready.

“I think the whole goal is we go into the season with the idea of daily improvement with the understanding that we want to be playing our best at the end. So during the course of the season, there’s going to be ups and downs and there’s going to be some turbulence and you have to get through that.

“But keep improving. Just keep getting better. There’s ebbs and flows to the season. Sometimes it’s in your favor, sometimes it’s not in terms of travel, practice time, things like that. So just understand what goes into it.”

Jalen Brunson

On his approach to crunch-time minutes:

“Just focus on the next play. Whatever I see is where we’re going to attack. Not going in to say ‘I’m going to score,’ I’m going to try and make the right play and go from there.”

On closing out the win against the 76ers:

“Yeah, we needed that. Just happy that we came away with the win. But we still got a lot of work to do.”

On the team’s careless play and many turnovers against the Sixers:

“We just weren’t as focused, were pretty careless with the ball. It’s all good. We’ve just got to respond. We can’t sulk about it.

“I think we responded in a way that helped us get a win. Not ideal, obviously it’s not what we want. But it’s a win and we move forward.”

On Ariel Hukporti’s impact in his first start:

“I’m proud of the way he comes in the game and impacts the game and what he does. He’s retained a lot in a very short amount of time. Nothing but proud and excited for the way he’s been playing.”

On Mikal Bridges’ strong first quarter performance:

“It was big time. Made some shots, played really well. He played well on both sides of the ball. That’s what we expect. Nothing we haven’t seen before.”

On Miles McBride’s shooting accuracy:

“I don’t think we’ve talked about it, but it’s kind of apparent that it’s always all net.”

Miles McBride

On his intentional shooting technique aiming at swishing threes:

“I train a lot in the summers on all-net shots. That’s one thing my dad always told me, ‘Always shoot for all net.’ That’s why I put a lot of arc in so that it drops in.”

On his frustration when a shot isn’t a swish:

“I get mad when it touches the rim.”

Mikal Bridges

On Ariel Hukporti’s first start of the season on Wednesday:

“He did good, real good. Playing hard, communicate and playing the right way. [I told him] Know our coverages and play hard. I know he’s going to play that way. Just do the best you can.”

On Jalen Brunson’s clutch performance:

“That’s what he does all the time. He’s capable of scoring like that, especially in the fourth, to help us win the game.”

Precious Achiuwa

On giving advice to Ariel Hukporti before the game:

“Just go out there and make sure you talk. Be over-communicative. Talk to the guys.”

On stepping up to play the five when Hukporti went down:

“I really take pride in playing winning basketball, trying to do whatever it takes to win. My versatility, obviously being able to play multiple positions, both sides of the ball game, [and] continuing to show that today.

“Opportunity came up. I understood that I had to step in when [Hukporti] went down.”

Cameron Payne

On the Knicks’ need for better communication:

“I think our communication needs to increase just from being around the team. I think, even Josh [Hart] said it. We need to talk more. And I think we need to play harder. Outside of that, I think everything has been pretty solid for our team. I just think the biggest thing, like you said, is getting us talking, our communication. I think our communication will handle a lot out there on the court.”

On why communication has been an issue for the Knicks:

“I think one thing is being comfortable. We talk so much outside. We talk so much when we go to eat. Or we have a little get-together and we talk so much. We need to carry that onto the court.

“I think sometimes a lot of people [are] worried about their games—and it’s not a selfish thing. It’s a human thing. But in order for us to win tough games against these good teams who have been together a long time, we have to communicate more.

“I don’t think it’s a shy thing or anything. It’s just the will to win. And sometimes, you get lost in the game. You get tired. A lot of things come into play.”

Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach)

On the Knicks-76ers playoff series from last season:

“It was a little bit weird. Nothing seemed to matter. Star guys would score. Star guys would not score. They’d get tons of rebounds. We’d get tons of rebounds. It didn’t seem to matter. Every game was close. It was strange in that sense.”

On Tyrese Maxey playing through injury:

“I mean, you know, he’s got a hand problem. I would; you guys check with him; that’s part of what’s bothering him… but you got to keep taking the shots that are there and see if you can get it going. But I thought he was awesome tonight.”

Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On playing through a finger injury:

“It’s hurting. But I’ll be fine.”

On limiting Jalen Brunson’s production:

“I think we did a good job on him. I asked before the game that’s who I wanted to guard, so they let me guard him, and I think we did a decent job on him.”

Paul George (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On pausing his podcast to focus on the 76ers season:

“It was more so just to focus on here. I haven’t been the healthiest, so it’s just been putting a ton of work towards getting my body as healthy as possible, and to keep focus of obviously being here and trying to turn things around here and the full focus is trying to get this team together. But we got to give ourselves a chance. Take it one game at a time, but we got to give ourselves a chance to see what we can do down the stretch.

“It was something that was kind of racking in my head a little bit just because of [being] new to the city, being acclimated to Philadelphia. It just came to the point where it was like, ‘All right, this is the time to kind of take a step back for a second.’”