We got ourselves a Sunday treat as there is an NBA Finals preview on tap.
Knicks vs. Thunder for the second time this regular season as the warm-up game for New York’s future sweep of OKC come June.
Here’s the latest before this evening’s showdown.
**_On the close loss to Oklahoma City earlier this season:_**
“It was a good game. It was a competitive game. Shai hit a big three I think down the stretch to create a little separation, but that could have been anybody’s game at the end of the day. Usually when you have two good teams, that’s what the result can be.”
**_On Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s foul-drawing:_**
“Does a great job of convincing the referees, probably better than anyone in the league, that he’s getting hit.
“He’s crafty. He’s the one that’s figured out how to make sure he’s in position to take advantage of the situation … We have to do a better job of not helping him or enhancing what he does really well.”
**_On preparing for the rematch with Oklahoma City:_**
“You gotta give Shai a lot of credit, because he’s crafty. He’s the one that has figured out how to make sure he’s in a position to take advantage of the situation or the system. We have to do a better job of not helping him or enhancing what he does really well.”
**_On chasing Pat Riley’s first-season wins record:_**
“There’s one thing that’s gonna mean a lot to me, and you know what that is.”
**_On Jordan Clarkson’s leadership:_**
“You can have leadership in a lot of different ways. As of late, the reality of it is, a guy like Jordan Clarkson is starting to separate himself and showing that he’s one of the leaders of the team. Just because you start, just because you score a ton or shoot a ton, or you’re one of the best defenders, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a leader. Because one of the things is, leaders aren’t afraid to tell the truth. They do what they say. Being a leader means you gotta be on point all the time. You can’t be worried about whether your teammate likes you at the time because you’re saying something that’s truthful or you’re holding people accountable or not. So when you look at a guy like Jordan, who’s been through a lot, who’s still stayed ready, even when he was out, for him and listening to him speak up in front of the group now, that’s starting to show real leadership. Other guys have spoken up, other guys are trying to do it, and Mitch is one of them.”
**_On the previous loss to Oklahoma City:_**
“I feel like we kind of executed our game plan. We give them credit. Chet had a great game. Shai had a good game. Obviously, defensively they played well. That’s the main thing I remember. They’re good. And I think we played very well, too.”
**_On adjusting to officiating and SGA’s foul-baiting tendencies:_**
“There’s so much dialogue about it. You gotta adjust to every ref things differently every game, every player, no two players are the same. You gotta be able to adjust to what the referees are calling, to your opponent.”
**_On what must change against Oklahoma City:_**
“Communication and effort. That kind of slows up anybody. The more connected, the more we talk and be there for one another and have each other’s backs, we’ll be all right.”
**_On growing into a vocal leader:_**
“The guys are starting to trust me a lot more. They’re putting trust in me, so I’m telling them what I see and things that I think we can get better at. Being more vocal, it’s coming naturally. The guys mentioned a few times that I’m the anchor of the defense. They trust me on the defensive end. That helps a lot.”
**_On the need for improvements before the playoffs:_**
“We’re gonna do some talking and get better connected and stuff like that. That’s basically what we have to do, at this point right now. In the playoffs, you’re playing the same team, potentially, seven times. The more we’re connected, the better off we’ll be. You’ve seen what we did last year, and we’re trying to go farther.”