The long wait is over. The Knicks’ springtime sojourn waiting for the Cleveland Cavaliers to dispatch the Detroit Pistons so they can commence the Eastern Conference Finals ends on Tuesday night, after New York went nine days without a game.
“It’s go-time now,” Jalen Brunson said Monday.
But the long layoff presents challenges for the Knicks and head coach Mike Brown. Asked if he’s worried about complacency, his team losing its sharpness, or being a step slow, the head coach said, “You worry about all those things.”
“But at the end of the day, we’ve had the chance to rest, too,” Brown said. “And they’ve had to play 14 games in 29, 30 days. So, it could go either way. You just hope when we step out there, our competitive spirit is at an extremely high level and we don’t ease into the game at all.
“Because they’re a dangerous, dangerous offensive team, they’re very potent with their shooters and playmakers and they have size and toughness and all that.”
Josh Hart added that the break – a roughly 218-hour interlude – is something they would rather not have to deal with, but it did offer them a chance to reset.
“Obviously, you'd rather not have a 9-day break – you're in a good rhythm, then you've kinda got to sit there and wait,” Hart said. “Ideally, if it was a three- or four-day break, that would've been nice. Good points and bad points [to the rest].”
During the time off, the Knicks did get a big boost as OG Anunoby, who missed the final two games of the sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers, was a full participant in practice yet again on Monday and looks set to return to action from a hamstring issue. Brown had no other injury issues to report.
Attacking Cavs
“I remember back in the day when I was with [Greg Popovich], Pop said you need three All-Stars to win a championship. Well, they’ve got four,” Brown said of the Cavs’ trio of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen that was boosted with James Harden’s coming over in an early February trade. “[Harden] has added a dimension to their team that not many teams have.
“Not many teams can say, 'Hey we have four All-Stars on our roster,' and that fourth guy is a playmaker and a scorer. That’s a problem when you have that and Donovan Mitchell and everybody else and then they have the shooting.”
But, even with the importance of Mitchell and Harden to the Cavs’ offense, Brown said the Knicks have to be “conscious of trying to play the right way against this group.”
“We have to put pressure on them in all phases, starting with transition and ending with the ability to try and get an offensive rebound,” he said. “You wanna make all of their guys, especially their guys that playmake for them and do a lot for them, you wanna make them work as much as you can.
“But that’s not gonna be our vocal point. Our vocal point is going to be to take the best possible shot that we can get because it’s hard to score in the playoffs. But we do wanna make those guys work.”
Leaning on MSG
With the No. 1 Pistons eliminated, the Knicks have home-court advantage for the series, something that the players will look to use to their advantage.
"It means the world to me," Brunson said. "This place has done wonders for myself and my family. I don't take it for granted, not one bit."
Hart added that Knicks fans always come out and "show love," and MSG is "definitely the best atmosphere in the league."
"You always want to be at home, be in the Garden," he continued. "And you feed off of that energy. It's fun. When the Garden is going, especially during this time, there's nothing like it."
Of course, New York is also back home for Mitchell.
“Yeah it’s great I get to play at home, woo, but it doesn’t matter,” the Cavs' star said. “We’ve got to be locked in and ready to go, and I know we will be.”
