Knicks Bulletin: “You’re not going to win just because you are home.”

Well… it turned out the Knicks had in their mind to clinch a place in the Eastern Conference finals in front of the Madison Square Garden faithful on a Sunday afternoon of all moments.

New York visited Indiana for one final time this season, lost to the Pacers in a dispiriting contest in which the Knicks lost another body, and will face a true win-or-go-home matchup on Sunday in Manhattan.

Here is what the protagonists of yesterday’s game between the Pacers and the Knicks, as well as a few other folks, said after the Game 6 affair.

Tom Thibodeau

On Josh Hart’s toughness…

“He’s a tough guy, he’ll get through it.”

On the Knicks’ need to play better and what went wrong in Game 6’s loss…

“We knew they were going to play hard coming off the last game, and that’s what it’s about. We’re just going to have to play a lot better.”

“I thought we started the game well and we got up five and then we didn’t close out the first quarter well. Didn’t close out the second quarter well, then we had a surge to start the third, cut it to five, then two loose balls that they recovered and turned it into two 3s. We’re gonna have to play a lot better.”

“You don’t get—he’s gonna work the game. He’ll figure it out. There was a physicality to the game, which is fine. We knew that would be there. And then I thought in the second half, I thought he got to everything he wanted to get to.”

On not taking a Game 7 win at MSG for granted…

“We worked for home-court advantage, but you still have to make sure you are putting in the work to win. You’re not going to win just because you are home.”

On OG Anunoby’s and Josh Hart’s game status for Game 7…

“Whatever medical says. Day-to-day. We’ll see.”

On his barechest photo going viral…

“Anyone who knows who the writer is, Tim, tell him I’m looking for him. And to give it to Josh Hart? Are you kidding me, of all the people.”

Josh Hart

On comparing Jalen Brunson to Damian Lillard…

“I have a lot of faith [in Brunson]. It was one of those things just like playing with Dame.”

“Dame was like, ‘All right, we keep this game close in the last two minutes, I can go win it for us.’ My short stint with Dame and in Portland, that was my mentality. It was make sure the game is within striking distance in the last couple of minutes, and Dame can go do what Dame does. And it’s the same thing with Jalen.”

On trusting Jalen Brunson in critical moments…

“I have all the trust in the world for him to go out there and make the right play, and sometimes it’s not scoring. But it’s just him making the right play, and it’s the same mentality of keeping this game close [so Brunson can finish it]. If it’s a back-and-forth game, give him the ball at the end, and I’ve got full trust in him winning it.”

On the New York Rangers’ postseason run and making the Eastern Conference finals…

“I saw they were down 3–1 after the second intermission and I was like ‘Oh, man, New York is not going to be happy about that.’ I was watching the Minnesota game [against the Nuggets] and then I looked to see how [the Rangers] did, and they scored four goals in that last period.”

“It was great for the fans and great for the city. To have a team get to the conference finals, hopefully they can keep pushing.”

On the prospect of a New York vs. Boston rivalry…

“Have I thought about it? Yeah, you think about it and you think about having an Eastern Conference Finals, NBA and NHL. New York and Boston, that’s cool. That’s something we would love to do. At the end of the day, we just have to focus on ourselves. I mean, that’s not an easy team [in the Pacers]. It’s not a team that’s going to get down 3–2 and lay down and call it a season. So we have to handle our business. If something like that happens, it will be great for the city of New York and also the city of Boston to have that little rivalry going.”

On the challenge of ending a series…

“Yeah, obviously we would like to have closeout games at the Garden and give the fans that kind of excitement. I mean, getting a win, ending a series on the road is always fun. Obviously, their crowd is going to be crazy. If you’re able to silence a crowd like that, obviously that’s a great feeling. On the road sometimes, it’s easier to focus because there are not as many distractions. It’s more about the guys in the locker room. It’s fun to do that on the road. At some point, hopefully not this series but at some point, we would like to end a playoff series at the Garden.”

Miles McBride

On Josh Hart’s toughness and outlook for Game 7…

“Him asking out is not a good sign, but I think he’ll bounce back.”

On the New York Rangers clinching the EFC…

“I’m glad that they finished it out. We see those guys around the facility a little bit and, you know, we’re always telling each other good luck and, you know, just go get it done. So it’s good to see that they’re having success.”

Isaiah Hartenstein

On Josh Hart’s mentality and his presence in Game 7…

“Knowing him, he’ll do whatever to play. If his leg’s not falling off, he’ll do whatever to play.”

“I mean, just knowing him, I didn’t talk to him or know the situation right now, but just knowing him, he’ll do whatever to play. If his leg’s not falling off, I can probably say that he’ll probably play. I haven’t talked to him yet. But we’ll see.”

Jalen Brunson

On Josh Hart’s injury availability for Game 7…

“Just add it to the list, I guess.”

“I would assume he’s going to play. It’s Game 7.”

On the challenge of beating a resilient Pacers team and the series finale in New York…

“They try to make things difficult. And I have to adjust as well. Show me different looks and I have to do a better job of reading it.”

“I expect both teams to have desperation.”

Donte DiVincenzo

On the importance of getting a high seed through the regular season for moments like this with Game 7 at MSG…

“I think you look back at the end of the season. This is the exact reason we played those games to win, to get the 2 seed.”

“And we know that the Garden will be rocking.”

On the Knicks’ never-ending injury woes…

“Obviously you never want to see anybody get hurt. But it’s been our season. We have more than enough, whoever’s on the court. I’ve said it 100 times. Whatever five is on the court, we have a blueprint here. Thibs demands certain things from certain guys. And you go out there, you compete your tails off. And you give yourselves a chance to win. So that’s our mindset, whether he goes or not. That’s our mindset.”

Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers Head Coach)

On the Pacers’ improved performance after a disastrous Game 5 loss…

“It was just activity. We played harder tonight, which was a must. We moved the ball better and we got more rebounds, and that’s obviously a big key to the series.”

“I thought Game 5 was our least aggressive game in the playoffs. We played hard tonight, which was a must. They came out really hard tonight, which was evident, but we moved the ball better, we got more rebounds and that’s obviously been a big part in this series.”

On Game 7 at MSG…

“We gotta brace for Sunday. We know the kind of effort [Brunson] is going to bring on Sunday. And we must be ready.”

Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers Player)

On the Pacers’ mentality in Game 6’s win after losing Game 5…

“Coaches challenged our effort, I think that was the biggest thing. We had some boneheaded things happen [in Game 5]. He just really challenged our group [players] 1–15 on how can we be better.”

On playing Game 7 at MSG on Sunday…

“It’s exciting. We’ve got nothing to lose. I think we realize it’s time to empty the clip. We are ready to go from start to finish.”

Bob Myers (Former Golden State Warriors GM)

On the Knicks’ resilience…

“If the Knicks don’t win on Sunday, it’ll be because of health. The way they’ve fought with who they’ve lost already is as commendable as any NBA team I’ve ever seen.”

Stephen A. Smith (Media Personality)

On the Knicks needing to step up and win Game 7…

“I’m not happy, the New York Knicks didn’t come ready to play. Jalen Brunson was awful in the first half, Josh Hart had his abdominal area messing with him for a little while… I would’ve expected more from him, capitalize off of the three days’ rest and not put themselves on the precipice of elimination, but, nevertheless, that’s what it is. They need something more.”

“They need something special—and they will get it. It will be me, I will be there.”

“Josh Hart will play, he will play. [Isaiah] Harteinstein will play. And the New York Knicks are going to the conference finals. I didn’t want it to get to this, OK … But dammit, this is what it’s about. You’ve been waiting for decades to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. I understand the abdominal, I understand how you’re feeling right now. Here’s the bottom line, there is no tomorrow, get it done!”

“We’ll think about Boston or what’s going to happen after that. Get it done Sunday at 3:30 [ET], be ready! I don’t give a damn what you’ve gotta do — figure it out!”