Steve Popper: Knicks refuse to look further than Game 4 against the 76ers
Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts against the 76ers during the fourth quarter in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday in Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn
PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks are seven wins into this postseason run, which means less than halfway to where the dreams lie of capturing their first NBA title in more than 50 years.
But if the fans, those inside Madison Square Garden, those who celebrated each win on the streets outside the Garden and those who trekked to Philadelphia to watch the team’s sixth consecutive playoff victory Friday night are starting to dream, the Knicks will tell you that the possibility exists — but only because they don’t think about parades and what the final win would look like.
It’s not new that Jalen Brunson and the crew says “the magic is in the work,” but it is that dogged insistence on staying in the present that just might create a future that is hard to imagine.
When the Knicks went up three games to two on Atlanta, they insisted the closeout game would be the hardest challenge they’d faced . . . and proceeded to build a 61-point lead. After the first win over the 76ers, they said it would be harder in Game 2, and it was, but it was another victory. They said nothing was achieved because Philadelphia would be ready on its home court, but it felt like the Knicks’ home with their fans shouting and they pulled away for another one-sided win even without OG Anunoby.
It has put them on the verge of reaching the Eastern Conference finals for a second straight season and this time looking like the best team in the conference.
“I just look at us as a team that’s trying every single day to stay in the present and find a way to win,” Karl-Anthony Towns said, “Every single time we step on the court.”
If you didn’t expect this through the ups and downs of the regular season or when they fell behind Atlanta at the start of this run, the Knicks did, focused on the next game and believing that they were more than what we’d seen.
“These guys understand that you guys only see the finished product,” Brunson said. “You guys see what’s on the court. You guys see what’s what when the cameras are on, when there’s media access. You guys don’t see the ups and downs of us talking things out.
“You guys don’t see us in practice trying to figure things out. And we all want to win. Obviously, there’s ups and downs to it. And we have times where we look disconnected and we look connected. That’s just team sports. That’s basketball. That’s sports. That’s life. There’s going to be ups and downs. It’s all about how you move on, how you get positive, how you move in a positive direction regardless of whether things are negative or positive.
“You got to block out the noise. You got to focus on inside those lines. You got to focus on just us as a team. There’s going to be times where things aren’t going your way. It’s how you respond. How you respond as a team is going to define who we are. And I think it took time. I think we still have a lot of room where we can grow. But it’s really key for us. I think our mental approach is a positive for us.”
If the Knicks have always believed there is room to grow, maybe it took the fans a little longer to believe. And there certainly are obstacles. If Detroit holds on against Cleveland, the Knicks will face not only the top seed from the regular season but a team that dominated them in their three meetings — and that’s just to get out of the East.
But Mike Brown, who took over this year after Tom Thibodeau brought them to the brink in his five seasons leading the team, has been a part of championship teams. He has seen the work and the characteristics those teams brought to the game. And he believes he sees it in this group, too.
“I said it when I took the job: You don’t really know the team until you get in the trenches with them,” Brown said. “But from the outside looking in, you felt that this team would give you a chance. And they do things or they’ve done things throughout the course of the year and throughout our run in the playoffs that you’re like, OK, yeah, we might have a chance at this.
“But the one thing we have to continue to do, which our group has done a fantastic job of doing, is taking it one game at a time. And that is one thing that was always consistent with the teams I’ve been with that have made it to the Finals is nobody got ahead of themselves. Nobody in the group from ownership on down got ahead of themselves during this run, you know? We stayed locked in and we worried about the next game and we took the next game one possession at a time, and that’s what this group is definitely trying to do.”
That next game is Sunday afternoon and the Knicks are focused on that, on a chance to end this series and prepare for the next steps.
“We just got to stay in the present,” Towns said. “The next game is the most important game. There’s a lot of things we need to clean up and we want to clean up and we have another game to do that. It’s about just staying about us.”
OG update
The update is, well, there is no update. The Knicks say Anunoby still is day-to-day with a strained right hamstring. Asked if the 3-0 cushion was helping with the decision, Brown said, “Not for me. It’s all medical-related and it starts with [the training and medical staff]. All I want them to do is tell me when he can play.”
Big man, small screen
Mitchell Robinson has cost himself some money by using his social media humor to post things, sometimes things the league deems inappropriate. He had a chance to paint a picture across his timelines after he took an inbounds alley-oop Friday night and dunked over Joel Embiid, who had given the “too small” gesture moments earlier after scoring on a hook shot in the lane over Robinson.
“It’s just a basketball play,” Robinson said. “You’re trying to bait me. That’s a good one. But no, just playing ball, just happy. It’s part of this league.”
Asked if he saw the picture with him dunking and Embiid appearing to be cowering under him, he said with a smile, “Maybe.”
Asked it would be his screen saver, he said, “Not mine, no. It don’t got no truck in it.”
Brunson security blanket
When the Knicks fell behind 12 in the first quarter Friday night, there was no panic. And for Brown, that’s because he has Brunson, who started 0-for-4 and finished with 33 points, shooting 11-for-18 the rest of the way.
“What’s the dude’s name on Snoopy? Linus? He’s got a blanket?” Brown said. “I’m Linus and Jalen is my blanket. He helps me relax a lot of different times throughout the course of the game, but that’s what great players do. They keep you poised, they make the game easier for everybody else, and they help you get through the stretch.”
Well wishes
After Game 2 and Game 3, Brown offered his condolences to 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who lost his brother, Steven, last week and attended the funeral between games in New York this past week. On a Zoom call with reporters Saturday, Towns — who lost his mother to COVID-19 — wanted to join in wishing Nurse well.
“I got to say one thing, I missed saying this,” Towns said. “I told Derek [Lapinski, the Knicks’ PR director] the other day, I was so tired after Game 2. I feel like we’ve played five games already. Game 2, Game 3, but I didn’t get to say, my family, at least, wanted to give love and condolences to Nick Nurse’s brother and his family.
“I never got to say that after Game 2. I was exhausted, as you can see on the court. So it kind of skipped my mind in Game 3 yesterday. It skipped my mind, the madhouse, media coming in and everyone trying to get out. I don’t care if you don’t write it or anything, but I wanted y’all to know that. I could’ve told y’all in the locker room but y’all was trying to get to every player, so just wanted to make sure that was known.
“Wanted to say that on TV, on the podium after Game 2, but I was just so tired. I was so tired I couldn’t even get to the Gatorade. I couldn’t even make another Gatorade joke. Really wanted to give my condolences to him.
“I haven’t been able to talk to him personally, but I know it’s real tough. I don’t know what he’s going through, but in a similar fashion, I know how it is to have to show up to work and to have a lot of pressure on you to do something special when you’re kind of not fully there.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
