New York City will host a bunch of Brooklynites who hope to tie the season series.
The Knicks will play the Nets for the second time in three days after barely edging past them, 124-122, on Friday at Madison Square Garden.
New York and Brooklyn will clash for the 216th regular season game, with NYC having just overtaken NY/NJ/BKN in the all-time results, 108-107.
Here’s what Coach Thibs and some other Nets and Knicks had to say after Friday’s affair and before Sunday’s reunion.
Tom Thibodeau
On Cam Thomas’ scoring ability:
“He made some tough shots. It doesn’t take much to get him going. He is a prolific scorer. If you give him space, he’s going to make shots, so you have to make him play in a crowd. Some of them were defended well and he still has the ability to make them.”
Josh Hart
On the need to start games with urgency:
“We just have to have a sense of urgency to start games and don’t let teams get into rhythm.
“You guys have been in the league long enough to know when guys get in rhythm it’s hard to shut them.
“We got to do a better job of coming out aggressive, physicality, making the extra effort and not easing our way into the game.”
On Ariel Hukporti’s contributions on Friday’s win:
“[It was] huge. Energy, a presence on the screens, protecting the rim, rebounding the ball deflections, running the court.”
On Hukporti’s challenges as a rookie:
“Now, the thing about a rookie is—for him—the hard thing is gonna be continuing to have the energy and not being complacent, which I don’t think he will. And we’re gonna hold him accountable.
“You guys saw just a glimpse of what he can do, and he’s gonna have to build on that, but we’re excited with what he is. He’s gonna be big for us.”
Ariel Hukporti
On his performance on Friday and dealing with nerves:
“It’s good. I was waiting for the opportunity for a long time, been working for it my whole life so took the opportunity not for granted.
“I played pro since I was 15 years old so at the start I wasn’t nervous at all—just when it comes to a close game.
“I still got to work on a lot of things. I learned a lot today, got to learn from my mistakes, and just keep going.”
On the MSG crowd’s reaction to his dunks against the Nets:
“It was great. I had a couple of dunks in the preseason as well. It’s not my first time.
“It was just great to hear the crowd, hype up the crowd.”
Mikal Bridges
On the need to ramp up his free-throw attempts:
“I know, just got to be better.
“I know it’s early (but I) talk about it with coaches, (try to) find ways to get to the rim and draw fouls.”
OG Anunoby
On defending Cam Thomas:
“He just coming off screens too freely and [we were] trying to make it as difficult as possible getting through screens to contest.
“He is a great player so he made some tough shots.”
Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets Player)
On learning from the loss to the Knicks:
“We were up one with a few seconds left and [Brunson] hit a tough shot over our best defender.
“I think we did all the right things, we played the right way. I think we scored like 40 points in the fourth. That’s crazy. We just got to look at what we did in the fourth and try to carry that over to Sunday as much as we can.”
On being aggressive in the rematch:
“Just staying aggressive. They were guarding hard, switching, switching, multiple defenders on me, blitzing. So I just had to figure it out. But I just really just wanted to come out, be aggressive, and then just set the tone early.
“First [NBA] Cup game, we just want to set the tone early. So I did a good job of that, decent job of that. But you always want to win at the end of the day.
“The good thing about it—we play them again on Sunday, so we can get some redemption. I can’t wait for that.”
On playing at Madison Square Garden:
“It’s not really much playing [in the Garden]—it’s just wherever I’m playing at, what [team] I’m playing, I just want to put my best foot forward and be aggressive and try to help the team win.
“[It] was kind of dope seeing Tom Brady. I was a big Tom Brady fan growing up. I don’t usually get like that with people, but that was kind of dope though. He gave me a little look when I hit a 3, too. So that really was a good moment for me, for sure.”
On being considered a “Garden Villain”:
“No, I’ve never really been that type of person to do that. I just try to play whoever’s out there playing, no matter where we’re playing.
“I just try to give [my best] and play the best to the best of my ability, no matter who it is.”
Jordi Fernandez (Brooklyn Nets Head Coach)
On Cam Thomas’ performance on Friday:
“He is not afraid of the bright lights. And I can tell you that from the first shot he took.
“His teammates knew that we had to find him. I tried to do my best to help him, to find him. Obviously, they put OG [Anunoby] on him, who is a very good defender and very physical, and he still found a way to score.
“The good thing is you have another chance to do it again against the same team. They’re going to feel the same way and then he’s going to have to come back and perform again.
“So amazing performance by CT, and very happy, because from the beginning, he kept us alive.”
On building on what his team learned from Friday’s loss:
“Losing hurts and it hurts all of us. But right there we showed our identity and nobody can take that away from us—nobody. The fight that we just put together, that’s something that we have to appreciate.
“Now losing the game, you go into the locker room, and nobody is happy for losing a game, and I’m the first one. I want to win every game and we’re going to fight to win.
“At the same time, if you see how we’re working every day and what we’re trying to build and how, today I’m proud of my guys. The other day I wasn’t all the way through.”
On the blockbuster trade for Bridges:
“He’s an amazing player. I told him there’s nothing better in the NBA than being wanted, and he was wanted at (the time of the trade).
“It’s part of our direction and how we want to do things and the plan that we have for building sustainable success.”
On Nic Claxton’s status:
“[Claxton] had the epidural and right now we have him reevaluated in like seven days, something like that. We’ll give you guys the update. Again, not super concerned. We wanna keep him healthy. His body is the number one thing for us, and now, it’s next man up.”