Knicks Bulletin: “If I were a journalist I’d write a couple things.”

The Knicks went back to the drawing board after losing an MMA contest masquerading as a basketball game last Thursday away from home and ahead of Sunday’s matinee against the Sixers in Philly.

The Cheesesteaks cries were heard by the NBA after the Knicks took a commanding 2-0 lead so the 76ers were given ample room to operate beyond legality on their way to winning Game 3.

Here is what Thibs and other Knicks (and foos) had to say after Saturday’s practice.

Tom Thibodeau

On Mitchell Robinson’s status…

“The reality is he’ll warm up tomorrow and see where he is.”

On keeping the next-man-up mentality going in case Robinson can’t play…

“That was one of the great things about our team all year long. Every time one guy went out, another guy came in.”

On the dubious Game 3 officiating…

“I’m not a journalist but if I were a journalist I’d write a couple things.”

On the refs not doing what they should…

“It’s not an easy job, I understand that. I just want consistency. So if it’s good, hard competition, great.”

“The No. 1 job of the official is to control and manage the game.”

“If it’s tight, it has to be tight both ways.”

Donte DiVincenzo

On keeping their fight up no matter how many players the Sixers take out…

“First and foremost, I hope we have Mitch. I expect Mitch to play. But if he doesn’t, it’s been like that all year. You have Precious, you have Jericho, those guys have been ready all season long. So, you know, it’s the next man up mentality and we’ve earned the two seed with Mitch missing 50-plus games.

On Robinson’s injury and outlook going forward…

“I expect him to play. I hope he plays and if he doesn’t, we know the next man up.”

On Embiid’s action injuring a Knicks player and putting others in danger compared to playing physical basketball…

“There’s a difference between, I think, playoff basketball and physicality, and then crossing that line. And I think multiple times, that line was a little bit blurred. You saw it across the league [Friday]. A couple guys got ejected. Refs are trying to put a stop to that. We know it was gonna be a physical battle. We know it’s gonna be another one [Sunday].”

“We’re not a dirty team. We’re here to play ball. And our identity is playing physical, but we’re not here to be dirty or do anything like that. We’re here to play ball and get a win.”

Jalen Brunson

On his improvement of late following a couple of subpar outings…

“Ball went in the hole. I was able to make plays, not just for myself, but for others. But for all that being good, we lost, so it doesn’t really matter. [It’s about] being together and reading each other on both offense and defense. And just being a step quicker to everything, but most importantly sticking together.”

Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach)

On the first-round matchup against the Knicks and Game 3…

“I think it’s a physical series.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On what’s gone on through Game 3…

“At the end of the day, I’m not going to comment on what they’re commenting on. At the end of the day, they’re going to hit, and we’re going to hit back, and then they cry or vice versa, whatever the case may be.”

“Let’s just hoop, go out there and play hard. Nobody finna fight. This ain’t WWE. At the end of the day, stand on the stuff that ya’ll say. We’ll see tomorrow how they react.”