Knicks' job is not done yet, and they know that
Precious Achiuwa of the Knicks during the fourth quarter against the 76ers in Game 4 of the playoffs at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images/Tim Nwachukwu
You could pick out so many moments from the Knicks’ Game 4 win over the 76ers on Sunday to replay over and over in your mind. The acrobatic, unlikely floaters by the undersized Jalen Brunson surrounded by the long arms of the 76ers’ defenders. Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa defending the rim and dominating the boards. The roaring sound of Knicks fans crowding into Wells Fargo Center.
But when it was over and the crowd had spilled onto the sidewalks outside the arena, the Knicks turned their attention to Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, insisting that the victory that gave them a 3-1 series lead and put them on the precipice of reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight season was not enough and that the job was not done.
“Somehow we just found a way, kept fighting, kept sticking together,” Brunson said after scoring a postseason franchise-record 47 points Sunday. “We found a way. When it’s ugly and we can find a way to win like that, when we’re not playing perfect, it’s a plus for us, a plus for our confidence. We’re not done yet. We’ve got to continue to have that pump-up mentality and we’ve got to find a way to win another.”
Maybe to get to this point, the opportunity to close out the series Tuesday, you point to November games, December trades, practice sessions behind closed doors and workouts in summer. The Knicks built themselves for this moment, ready to play 48 minutes if necessary. They were ready to move forward when one player after another had to leave the lineup.
At 11:48 a.m. Sunday, little more than an hour before game time, Mitchell Robinson made his way out of the locker room and onto the court, walking with little sign of a limp but also little sign of the burst and athleticism that marks his game. Shortly after that, he returned to the locker room, trailed by two team doctors, and was scratched from the lineup.
The Knicks have been playing without two-time All-NBA standout Julius Randle, so with Robinson sidelined and Isaiah Hartenstein sent to the bench with foul trouble, it was time for the Tom Thibodeau mantra of “next man up” to move from slogan to action.
“I think it has been the story of this season and I think when you look back to everything that transpired with guys going out and new guys coming in and whoever gets in there, just get the job done,” Thibodeau said.
“Know what your job is. Do your job. Execute.
“And then there was disappointment in the way we finished [Game 3], but what we were in control of is how we got ready for this game. So be ready, and that’s our challenge. And we know you’re not replacing front-line guys individually. We have to do it collectively. And if we do that, if we’re a team and we do the right things, good things come from that.”
After being shut down by Anunoby and Achiuwa in the fourth quarter, Joel Embiid shrugged off the reality of the situation the 76ers face.
“We’ve got no pressure,” he said. “We’re the seventh seed, down 3-1. Lot of guys are hurt. I don’t know why we would feel the pressure. So we should just go out and play our best basketball, and one at a time — win one, come back home, win another one and then Game 7 over there. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it. No pressure.”
Anyone who has watched the Knicks this season knows they don’t play as if there is no pressure. Even up three games to one — and far more shorthanded and banged up than the 76ers are — they will not take the opportunity lightly.
Asked what it will take to close this out, Hart said, “Everything. And we got to be locked in defensively first and foremost.”
The Knicks will place the ball in Brunson’s hands but know that someone else also will step forward. On Sunday, it was Achiuwa in the fourth quarter and Anunoby all game long. It was Hart, who didn’t connect on a field goal but did everything else, and Miles McBride with a spark off the bench.
“We’re a team and we have a team of leaders and then of course the way Jalen has responded to the challenge has been huge,” Thibodeau said.
“But not just Jalen. Everyone has embraced their role. And like I said, the challenge now is for us . . . to enjoy this for the moment but tonight start getting ready for the next one. So we know the challenge that will be in front of us and we have to get a fourth win.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
