Knicks Bulletin: "Enjoy it till midnight—we're already past midnight, so..."

03/05/2024 16:00

Orange & Blue quotes off a night for the ages in Philly as the Knicks beat the Sixers in Round One!

It took the Knicks two more games than anticipated, but New York invaded Philadelphia for one final time on Thursday on their way to beating the 76ers and punching their tickets for a second-round meeting with the Indiana Pacers starting Monday.

The men in Orange & Blue looked good, then horrible, and ultimately extraordinarily impeccable as they stopped Philly on their tracks and silenced their three fans trying to root for the semi-home squad inside WeLLs Fargo Center.

Here is what your superheroes had to say after a game and a day for the ages.

Tom Thibodeau

On his thoughts about the overall performance through round one of the playoffs...

"Every game was hard-fought. It was a great series, and each game could have gone either way. It was a hard-fought series, and we're fortunate, but right now we have to get ready for Indiana."

On giving kudos and some rest to his pupils...

"I told 'em, 'enjoy it till midnight.' I guess we're already past midnight, so we're thinking about what we have to do next."

On Dont eDiVincenzo saving his best performance for Game 6...

"Donte, you can't say enough about his all-around play, the shotmaking, hustle, defense. Maxey is a load to deal with, pick and rolls, transition, everything. When he gets off the ball, he doesn't stop moving and you have to keep moving with him. I thought Donte's effort was terrific."

On Josh Hart elevating the Knicks and stepping up in the most critical moments of Game 6...

"Josh was Josh. He's a player. He's put a lot of time into his shooting. I always feel like, I don't know what it is about him. There's so many intangibles that he has, that makes your team good. I always have the belief that when it's a big shot, it's going in. He has that ability. When you need an offensive rebound, he's gonna go through three, four, five people and go get it. It's a loose ball, he's gonna make something happen. He's just a fierce, fierce competitor."

On thinking about benching Hart for the final seconds of Game 6 after he missed a freebie in Game 5...

"Josh is never close to coming out. It was a passing thought... and I let it pass."

On not fumbling the game in the final seconds as it was the case in Game 5...

"Everybody made sure that everyone was on the same page."

On expecting the unexpectable...

"In the playoffs, crazy stuff happens. And then it's how you respond."

"Sometimes when something like [the Game 5 miscommunication] happens, it crystalizes the thinking for everybody. And we're not gonna be perfect. We're gonna make mistakes along the way. And I think you see that here."

Jalen Brunson

On what it took New York to beat Philadelphia...

"We were focused, we knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Even with the lead that we had, we tried obviously to play with the lead, but we knew that they were going to keep fighting. Every game has been like this so it doesn't really matter how you start, it matters how you finish."

On the ups and downs of Game 6 and ultimately getting the win...

"I liked the way we kept fighting. It doesn't matter what the situation is; we're going to fight."

On advancing to the second round after a tough first-round series...

"This was a really big test for us and we were able to come out on top. Going forward, it might be a different test, maybe something completely different. But this definitely helps, and obviously, you want to learn while winning, so obviously we're still playing and we want to get better."

On playing Game 6 in Philadelphia in front of New York fans...

"Its definitely a special place to play. This place is like a home for me."

"This place is unbelievable…this crowd is crazy. I'm just glad we got enough Knick fans down here, they didn't buy all the tickets. And so I'm really happy about that."

On what's next for him and New York...

"I'm focused on the next round already. We got a long way to go."

On whether or not his routine has changed has he's been forced into a more prominent scoring role...

"Routine stays the same. Everything else stays the same, approach, all that. And the roles change. Obviously, losing Julius was a big letdown for us, but we're going to keep fighting. That's been our thing all year, no matter what happens, we're going to come out next man up, we're going to keep fighting."

OG Anunoby

On dunking Joel Embiid into retirement...

"Just attack the rim, just attack the rim and be aggressive. I was telling myself, 'Don't lay it up. Just dunk it."

"I'm a pumped-up guy. I do that stuff. That's normal for me."

Isaiah Hartenstein

On what OG gives the Knicks...

"He brings a lot. To me, he's one of the best, if not the best, defender in the league. He was aggressive this series. I think maybe he didn't start so aggressive but as it went on he started to be aggressive, downhill driving, getting to his midrange and finishing."

On Anunoby's posterization of Embiid...

"That dunk was huge."

Josh Hart

On the Sixers' decision to leave him open on that late, game-winning 3-point shot...

"It was a rotation, obviously they blitzed [Brunson], so I knew Maxey was right there, right next to me, so my first instinct was if they rotate, to make a pass to [DiVincenzo]. Obviously the game plan was to not rotate to me. The second I saw they were not rotating, I got my feet set and took an uncontested shot."

On how he's able to play with so much energy...

"Mike and Ikes, baby!"

On making up for his missed free-throw shot at the end of Game 5...

"I had a day and a half to think about that, after I helped lose that game. I was glad I was able to help win this one."

On how he prepared to slash the Sixers before Game 6...

"No idea what the hell I'm about to do. Just gotta nap. I don't even know. I don't even know. Yeah, I have no idea what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna eat, sleep and then I don't know."

Donte DiVincenzo

On getting his shot back in time for Game 6...

"Honestly, it had nothing to do with shooting. I got myself going early in the game guarding Maxey. We made that adjustment and I was locked in ready to go. Having a tough matchup like that, you have to be locked in from the very beginning. So I think that got me going early."

"And you know, when you're playing with unselfish guys, you're gonna get open looks, so I'm never worried about making or missing shots. I think for me it was to be locked in on the defensive end, and that got me going."

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On crashing out of the playoffs early to the New York Knicks...

"It didn't work out this year, but we also played a great team. The New York Knicks... they did a great job."

Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On falling to the Knicks in six...

"It was tough. The point differential, I think it was what? Plus-one them? I think that's as close a series as I've been in my young career. That was a well-fought series."

"Hats off to them. Those guys, they made big-time shots."