The Knicks took duty for his or her epic choke. Actually, how may they not?
Participant after participant pointed inward at their very own group fairly than praising something the Pacers did following the Knicks’ 138-135 Sport 1 additional time loss to Indiana Wednesday evening at Madison Sq. Backyard.
“We didn’t close the game out,” Josh Hart mentioned. “I feel like our intensity dropped. We started playing slower, playing more into their hands. We let that one slip. … I feel like defensively, we let off the gas. Intensity and physicality weren’t there, offensively we were playing slower, a little stagnant, and looked like we were playing not to lose. We gotta make sure we don’t make that mistake again.”
The Knicks led by 14 with 2:51 left within the fourth quarter. Groups in that scenario had been 994-0 within the postseason within the play-by-play period.
“Your defense, you gotta be able to count on your defense,” coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned. “We missed some free throws. We gotta make sure we have an awareness as to what’s going on. … The turnovers were costly. They converted them into easy buckets. And so, that sort of fueled their offense as it got them going again. They started off the game in a good rhythm and then we did much better as the [first] half went on. And then down the stretch, we didn’t do what we needed to do.”
The Knicks vowed that they aren’t rattled, although.
They’ve at some point to place this behind them earlier than Sport 2 on Friday.
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“In the playoffs when you win it’s the best thing ever and when you lose it’s the worst thing ever, so the best way to deal with all that is to stay levelheaded and make sure we have each other’s backs,” Jalen Brunson mentioned. “Obviously I thought we would go on to finish the game, but tomorrow we have to watch film, get better and make sure we’re ready for Game 2.”
All through the season, together with the playoffs, the Knicks have been good at responding after losses. They’re 4-0 this postseason after losses.
Now, they’ll want that resilience greater than ever.
“Obviously it’s a tough one, we’re all disappointed in it,” Hart mentioned. “But the series is not over after one game.”
