Knicks' challenge for Game 6 is to reset and close out series in Detroit
From left, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart in Game 5 of the Knicks' series against the Pistons at MSG on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
It was getting close to midnight at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, the disgruntled fans already cleared out, the locker room empty except for a few Knicks employees and reporters when Jalen Brunson finally emerged from the training room.
The pain from injuring his right ankle again may have eased from the treatment, but the anguish over seeing an opportunity to close out the first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons at home would last until the Knicks can take the floor again Thursday at Little Caesars Arena with another chance.
But the focus now was pointed ahead.
“We have to go there with the mindset to win,” Brunson said. “Simple as that.”
The Knicks could point to so many moments where the game went wrong — a sluggish start, offensive struggles all night long, another third-quarter malaise and finally Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau hanging onto his final timeout for nearly two minutes while Brunson and Josh Hart waited at the scorer’s table, fidgeting as they saw the clock tick down, unable to get back in to try to save the day.
Despite Brunson’s claim, with the Knicks it never seems simple. The problems they fought through much of the year were on display again Tuesday. So how do they put this disappointment behind them, solve the issues, heal the bruises and get it all done in Game 6 with the Boston Celtics already done with their series and waiting at home for the next opponent?
“I mean yes, It is tough,” Brunson said. “Regardless of how we feel tomorrow, we have to turn the page. I think I said this before: If it’s a win or loss, it’s short-term memory because you have to come out and figure out what you have to do to win the next one.”
“The challenge is to reset,” Thibodeau said. “Every game is different. Take a look at the film, see what we do better, be ready to go to the next game.”
Looking at the film will be like a horror movie, even if the Knicks were in the game until those painful final minutes. Through the first five games the Knicks have allowed the sixth-seeded Pistons to wipe away the doubts of their age and limited experience. And by the time Tuesday’s game was over, listening to the two teams it was clear that the Pistons, even down a game, were more certain of exactly where they were right now.
And in the away team's locker room in Madison Square Garden, Cade Cunningham was asked about his belief the Pistons could bring this series back to the Garden for a seventh game.
“Confident,” Cunningham said. “We’ll be back.
“It’s exciting. We’re hungry, man. We gave both games away at the crib. Our fans did a great job of coming out, giving us a lot of energy. We dropped both of those games. We’re excited to get back home and avenge them.”
“The focus is just the game that's in front of us,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “And I do believe, like why we've been able to grow the way that we've grown, because that's the mentality we've had. We're not a team that looks out five games. We're not a team that looks at, you have to win three. We are a team that just looks and plays in the moment and you don't worry about the other weight of all the other stuff that comes about if that's the way you play. And I think our guys have just been accustomed to doing that, and that's why, again, you know, it's not going to be easy, but we got an opportunity to go home playing the Game 6 in front of our crowd, which I know will be awesome.”
The Knicks may have many reasons for wanting to avoid that possible Game 7, maybe none more important than the one they already let get away — a chance to give Brunson a break and allow his ankle more time to heal. Instead, Hart was added to the list of the banged-up crew, conjuring memories of how the Knicks let series linger on last year and saw injuries mount.
“You want to win every game,” Hart said. “If I had my way, we would’ve swept them. If they had their way, they would’ve swept us. We’re not looking at it that way. Just got to make sure we focus on fixing the mistakes we had today and going to Detroit ready to go.
“We’ve got to go out there and win a game. Got to go out there and compete, be physical. Not worry about foul calls or refs or anything like that. We’ve got to make sure we control what we can control and that’s effort, that’s our reaction to the things we can control. And punch first.”
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.
