Believe it or not, the Knicks have won a game, and it turns out the season isn’t over, and there are 76 more matchups left. Who would have thought!
The Bulls, on the other hand, aren’t unbeatable anymore. Sorry, pals!
Here’s what we heard after yesterday’s affair as we quickly transition to tonight’s matchup against the Wiz Kidz.
Mike Brown
On Josh Hart’s nerve issue:
“That’s news to me. Casey has handled as best he can, and Josh has, too. He had 14 and 9 tonight, so if he’s healthy, oh my gosh. Look out. He’s playing fine. Again, he’s missed a lot of time, so he’s playing catch-up, and he’s doing a heck of a job playing catch-up for us.”
On the Knicks’ 48-minute effort:
“The first half against Milwaukee was good. The second half in Chicago was good. Tonight, we were closer to playing a 48-minute game on both sides of the ball. I still think our ceiling is a lot higher. But I think you guys can see some of the potential on both ends of the floor. This group is more than capable of playing fast. We scored 128 points and probably could have scored a few more.”
On effort lapses leading to a quick second-half timeout:
“As a group, we didn’t do a good job that possession. And I just needed to remind them.”
On improving his bench rotation:
“I didn’t help the bench a ton the last couple of games. I was all over the map with substitutions, so it was hard for those guys to get a rhythm. I have to do a better job — and I thought I did tonight — of trying to have a rotation and stick with it while still playing nine and a half, ten guys.”
On the team’s offensive development:
“This is going to be a process. We’re still not where we need to be offensively, but guys are starting to understand how to space the floor.”
On Mikal Bridges’ preparation:
“Mikal was one of the guys who was here with the young guys early in summer getting reps in August and September. He’s ahead of the curve that way.”
On his hand injury:
“Yeah, my nerve hasn’t fully gotten back to what it was before. So it’s a little bit of tingling, a little bit of numbness in part of my hand. Hopefully, at some point, that nerve will get back to where it was. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but right now it’s a process.”
On playing through adversity:
“For me, I’m going through some adversity myself, physically and mentally, so my biggest thing today was going out there and playing with energy. Just getting back to being myself.”
On his mindset against Chicago:
“My biggest thing today was going out there and playing with energy, playing with joy. Not playing frustrated or mad. Just getting back to being myself.”
On his injury and decision to delay surgery:
“It’ll probably be a process until I get full feeling back. The hand will be what it is. I’m working on shooting all the time. That’ll come along. I’m not getting surgery.”
On Mikal Bridges’ leadership:
“It’s great he did that.”
On Mikal Bridges’ play:
“He’s being aggressive and playing his game and not worrying about anything else but being himself. That’s what we need.”
Jalen Brunson
On Josh Hart’s performance:
“I saw Josh Hart. The one we know and love.”
On the team’s start against the Bulls:
“I’m happy with the way we started tonight. We just gotta continue to build off of it.”
On team accountability and Mike Brown:
“Mike’s going to make the decisions and no matter what he does, we’re going to have his back.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the Knicks’ win over the Bulls:
“I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
On the World Series:
“Shout-out to the MLB writers, man. They made a hell of a script for this World Series. Had everything you could imagine. Baseball’s in a good spot.”