Knicks Bulletin: 'What he provides our team, he's worth every dollar'

Yesterday at 07:00 AM

As if waiting for Santa to arrive midweek didn't feel long enough already, the Knicks made us wait themselves to celebrate what ultimately was another dub in New York's collective bag, this time a 104-93 victory over NOLA.

The Knicks started a bit slow but now having a bonafide superstar in their ranks found no problem in coming back from a 14-point deficit to add an 18th win to their record, now reading 18-10 and as ranking as the third-best out East.

Here's what Coach Thibs and a few other Knicks had to say before and after yesterday's affair.

Tom Thibodeau

On Jalen Brunson's impact in the comeback win over the Pelicans:

"In our second quarter we struggled, and then we were searching. And then Jalen obviously, the shot making and lifting everyone up.

"We were struggling and then just found a way to win."

On Karl-Anthony Towns' foul trouble altering the game:

"That was a challenge. The foul trouble with KAT sort of knocked us out of rhythm, and then we were sloppy with the ball. That was a problem, but then I thought Mikal [Bridges] got going, and he and OG [Anunoby] defensively in the third [quarter] were terrific.

"The big thing is KAT's fouls. I wanna take a look at them. I think some of them we can fix with discipline. And so that took us out of our rhythm. We've just gotta be better with that."

On Jericho Sims' defensive contributions off the pine on Saturday:

"When Jericho was in there, his defense had a big impact on the game."

On OG Anunoby's defense against top players:

"Yeah, and that's the beauty of OG. Sometimes you can look at the box score but you don't realize the impact that he has on the game. It's not an easy job.

"A guy like Julius and a guy like Anthony Edwards, you've got to battle them on every possession and sometimes you can guard them great and they still can make shots.

"You commit and you've got to keep going, a second, third and fourth effort. But OG, he's as good as it gets defensively."

On the Knicks' adjustments for Saturday and lessons learned from their previous win over the Pelicans:

"Not a lot. Because they've been hit hard with injuries and so they're getting some guys back, and that impacts every team. So you look at where you are and who they have available. And each game is different. And even if it's the same players, it's different because you don't know—you don't know where they are in their schedule in terms of their travel and where the game falls. Maybe you have a rest advantage in certain situations, so I think you have to look at all the variables.

"The challenge in this league is you have to be ready every night because every team can beat you."

Jalen Brunson

On his second-half scoring eruption:

"A fire got lit, and I found a way to make a couple of shots and turn some defense into some good offense. And from there on, obviously, we found a way."

On adapting to different defensive strategies:

"It's different every night. I've gotta stay focused, knowing that it's not always the same, so I can't get frustrated thinking it's gonna be the same or be easy.

"I've gotta get my teammates involved and stay aggressive."

On his shooting rhythm and maintaining the lead:

"You've gotta read the game, and once I saw one go in, I had another good look, and I knew it was time to go. We got the lead, and from that point on, we played well with the lead."

On staying composed under pressure:

"The ball kept going through the hoop. I was just a tad more aggressive at [the end of the game].

"Just a credit to everyone, getting stops, running the floors, getting to space and made a run.

"[The Pelicans] were being aggressive. Pressuring. But I had a couple of turnovers early. I think I had three in the first half. I was able to truly understand what was going on and just be smart. I allowed myself to be me and not get sped up."

On the team's progress and unity:

"There's always still room for improvement, but I think we're in a good space. We're finding ways to win… and most importantly, we're sticking together."

Josh Hart

On OG Anunoby's defensive prowess:

"I know OG puts a lot of guys in jail. He's someone we're good with putting him on the island with whoever, big or small, and he's going to change shots. I don't understand how he does half of it.

"Sometimes when he guards like [Philadelphia's] Tyrese Maxey and he's able to influence shots and stay in front of him knowing Tyrese is fast as hell and OG's not. I have to say what it is. Then you put him on guys like Julius who is a big physical guy, plays in the post, and he's able to hold his own.

"So he's a monster to a defense all by himself and he should be a first team or second team all-defense for sure. We're comfortable with that matchup against him and anybody."

On the challenge of facing teams with poor records without falling for the trap:

"I think the biggest thing you learn is there's good players on every team. And if you come in with the mentality of this team is struggling or this team is not healthy, or you might not recognize a couple names—If you come in with that mentality it's going to be a tough game and a game you could very well lose. So you can't look at their record.

"They got talented pieces that can make plays offensively and defensively. They've got a good coach. So you have to come in with that mentality."

On the Pelicans bench urging the ballboy to sweep the floor and the poor dude getting a tech:

"The bench was yelling, 'Sweep, sweep.' And not one person had fallen on the floor."

On Pelicans coach Willie Green's influence on his career:

"He was my third coach in three years. Coming off Stan [Van Gundy] where I probably had one of the worst years of my career. And Willie just kind of believed in me.

"I didn't want to come back, but I talked to him and we got on the same page at the beginning of that year. He just trusted me. He put me in position to be successful in terms of being more of a playmaker and scorer. I think that's the biggest thing. He trusted in me as a player, but more so as a person. And that really gained my confidence. You see the games that I played there, I think I averaged almost what I average now.

"Now I think I'm at, probably, one of the best years of my career. I've always got love for Willie. He changed things for me. I always credit Willie a lot with changing the trajectory of my career."

OG Anunoby

On his approach to guarding all sorts of opponents:

"Just try to make it as difficult as possible for him. Make him uncomfortable, force him into tough shots."

Karl-Anthony Towns

On Jalen Brunson's leadership in Saturday's comeback:

"That's Captain, that's Cap. You know how I feel about him: one of the most talented players in this league, regardless of position. He went out there and did what he does best. He was fantastic."

On the lessons learned from a tough game against the Pelicans:

"I think it's a good lesson for us, it's a good game for us. I don't think we had a game like this all year. It was a very different game with a different script.

"I think we did a good job of learning from our other games and learning from our losses. And finding a way to grit this game out and execute at a high level at the end when we needed to."

On OG Anunoby's contributions to the Knicks:

"OG's been special all year. We talk about it day in and day out.

"He's so special. He's one of the best two-way players in the NBA. What he provides our team, he's worth every dollar."

Mikal Bridges

On OG Anunoby's defensive impact:

"It's just who he is. Ever since I've known OG, he's just been a menace.

"I think the steal he had on Julius, when Julius was trying to iso me, I was like, 'ohh.' It took me by surprise.

"So him just staying locked in and doing all the little things. We appreciate it and we need it."