It was the first reaction of Jalen Brunson Sunday evening, after the third victory of the Knicks in the series, synonymous with a comfortable 3-1 lead: It’s far from over. »
A way for the new boss to new York to maintain a high degree of responsibility in the locker room and to recall that despite the solid position of his team, the hardest part is now yet to come: trying to complete the series from the fifth round in Cleveland, this Wednesday, in an atmosphere that will certainly be hostile.
” Don’t be obsessed with the fact that this is the opportunity to close the series » specifies “JB” about the state of mind to adopt before this Game 5. “ Because you have to play first. We have to keep in mind that we are traveling in hostile territory, that [les Cavaliers] will give everything they have to survive. And we will have to answer. »
Don’t end up on the wrong side of history
Historically, and mathematically, a score of 3-1 in a series is an almost automatic guarantee of qualifying for the next round, since 257 of the 270 teams that found themselves in this position won the series. But the 13 counter-examples show that the feat is possible, and the Knicks do not want to go down in history as the 14th team to lose these three consecutive games.
” We lead 3-1, but it can go up to 7. One remains to take » adds Josh Hart, which recalls that Cleveland has already shown an ability to react at home. ” They’re a tough team, no matter what. We saw it in Game 2, if we don’t pull out all the stops, they can hurt us. Especially since we’re going back to their place, they have nothing left to lose and the atmosphere will be crazy for them, and hostile for us. »
And Isaiah Hartenstein to finally summarize the approach of the New York club, a few hours from a potential first qualification in the second round since the 2013 playoffs.
” It’s a game like any other concludes the Knicks replacement pivot. ” The approach must remain the same. We continue to take each game one after the other. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Julius Randle | 77 | 35.6 | 45.9 | 34.3 | 75.7 | 1.8 | 8.1 | 10.0 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 25.1 |
| Jalen Brunson | 68 | 35.0 | 49.1 | 41.6 | 82.9 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 6.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 24.0 |
| Rj Barrett | 73 | 33.9 | 43.4 | 31.0 | 74.0 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 19.6 |
| Immanuel Quickley | 81 | 28.9 | 44.8 | 37.0 | 81.9 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 14.9 |
| Quentin Grimes | 71 | 29.9 | 46.8 | 38.6 | 79.6 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 11.3 |
| Josh Hart | 25 | 30.0 | 58.6 | 51.9 | 78.9 | 1.9 | 5.2 | 7.0 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10.2 |
| Cam Reddish | 20 | 21.9 | 44.9 | 30.4 | 87.9 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 8.4 |
| Obi Toppin | 67 | 15.7 | 44.6 | 34.4 | 80.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 7.4 |
| Mitchell Robinson | 59 | 27.0 | 67.1 | 0.0 | 48.4 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 9.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 7.4 |
| Evan Fournier | 27 | 17.0 | 33.7 | 30.7 | 85.7 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
| Derrick Rose | 27 | 12.5 | 38.4 | 30.2 | 91.7 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 5.6 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | 82 | 19.8 | 53.5 | 21.6 | 67.6 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 5.0 |
| Miles Mcbride | 64 | 11.9 | 35.8 | 29.9 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.5 |
| jericho sims | 52 | 15.6 | 77.6 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.4 |
| Svi Mykhailiuk | 13 | 3.1 | 50.0 | 60.0 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Trevor Keels | 3 | 2.7 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Ryan Arcidiacono | 11 | 2.4 | 20.0 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
