Knicks remain confident that they can get series against Pacers back on right track
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson watches from the bench during the second half of Game 4 against the Pacers in an NBA second-round playoff series Sunday in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
Sunday’s 121-89 loss still was fresh in the minds of Knicks players when they spoke with the media after Game 4. And even before the doors opened and they met the media, they talked with each other, taking ownership of their ugly, disheartening performance.
It might have seemed hard to find something to cling to after a 32-point loss in a game in which they trailed by 43. There is no cavalry coming in the form of a returning piece. OG Anunoby isn’t close to returning and Jalen Brunson’s right foot injury seems to be slowing him. They are as banged up as they have been all season long, missing four key pieces to injuries, and even the players left seem to be patched and taped together to try to crawl across the finish line.
But there was no panic when they spoke. Details of who spoke during their team-only meeting didn’t leak out, but it’s safe to assume it might have been some combination of Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, the on-court leaders of the team throughout this postseason run. And the message resonates, maybe the way it did when Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich spoke in the wake of their second straight championship in 1995 and said, “We had nonbelievers all along the way. I have one thing to say to those nonbelievers: Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”
That phrase was repeated last week by Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. And maybe that’s all the Knicks can grab onto right now.
All three of those players are champions, even if it was a long time ago in their college years at Villanova. But Brunson, Hart and DiVincenzo have gotten this far by silencing doubters and overcoming expectations. So one more time, can they coax magic out of themselves and their depleted roster of bench players and part-timers thrust into major roles?
“Whether we lost on a buzzer-beating heave or we lose by 30, a loss is a loss,” Hart said. “We’re gonna do the same thing. We’re gonna prepare. We’re gonna watch the film. We’re gonna get better. And we’re gonna come out the next game. So obviously it was a letdown, but this series is tied. We still have confidence with the guys that we have, and we’ve gotta keep fighting.”
“We’ll be fine,” DiVincenzo said. “We’re not worried about it. I know this group, and Tuesday is a different game. It has nothing to do with today.”
Right now, it’s hard to find something more convincing than bold words. A look at the roster shows four of the top eight players are missing. DiVincenzo, Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein aren’t on the injury report but certainly seem hobbled. DiVincenzo has shot 3-for-17 since taking a hard fall in Game 3. Brunson not only is dealing with a right foot injury but also rolled his left ankle on Sunday.
Brunson insists he is fine and coach Tom Thibodeau echoed that, saying “He says he’s fine. So he’ll keep going.” Hartenstein said he will be ready for Game 5 even though he struggled to lift his left arm in the second half Sunday after taking a fall earlier in the game.
“I mean, we can talk about fresher legs and you can give us all the pity that we want,” Brunson said. “Yeah we’re shorthanded, but that doesn’t matter right now. We have what we have and we need to go forward with that. So there is no ‘we’re shorthanded.’ There is no excuse. There’s no excuse whatsoever. If we lose, we lose. That’s what that was.”
To fix it, they believe they certainly can play with a different energy and effort, the constants that they have relied on throughout the adversity they’ve faced this season. And back home at Madison Square Garden, they expect to feed off the crowd.
“I mean, it’s the Garden,” Hartenstein said. “Nothing is like the Garden. We have to really get back to playing our basketball, coming back to playing for the fans like that. Because the way we played, especially [Sunday], was not respectful to the fans and how they support us.”
“Yeah, we need that energy from the Garden, man, from the Knicks fans,” Hart said. “They’ve been bringing it all year and it’s something that we desperately are gonna need on Tuesday.
“Like I said, obviously it’s tough to go here and have a really tough loss Friday, then short recovery time and a blowout [Sunday]. So obviously those are tough. But this series is tied. We’re not down 0-2. We’re not down 3-1. It’s 2-2. So you gotta keep fighting. We’re going home and we gotta bring energy.”
Notes & quotes: Mitchell Robinson underwent a minor procedure on his left ankle after additional consideration by his surgeon and Knicks medical staff. He is expected to be reevaluated in six to eight weeks.
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.