Knicks Notes: Game 6, Hart, Towns, Players’ Meeting

There were celebrations inside and outside of Madison Square Garden Friday night as the Knicks disposed of the Celtics in their second-round series, but players and coaches realize their job is only half done, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. With New York headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, the focus is preparing for Indiana rather than celebrating the achievement.

“I think the way you have to look at it is whatever your ceiling is, that’s what you’re striving for,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You’re trying to go past whatever the expectations are for you. If everyone commits to that, the challenge is to bring the best out of everybody. The goal is always to win a championship. We’ve got eight wins. We need 16. And each one gets harder and harder. So you’ve got to keep fighting and you’ve got to understand how important that is. “

Popper notes that while fans were savoring the moment, the Knicks were reserved after closing out Boston with a resounding 38-point win. The four starters who participated in the post-game press conference were relatively emotionless, while the fifth, OG Anunoby, didn’t have much to say to reporters in the locker room.

“Obviously, I’m new here, but I just know how much New York loves their sports, especially the Knicks, so just all excited to be a part of it,” Mikal Bridges said. “They’re enjoying it now for us, but we have way more to go. Yeah, there’s more to do. We’re not done. That’s what it is. We came out there tonight to play hard and handle business, but our season’s not over. We’ve got so much more to go and we play on Wednesday, so get ready to prepare for them. Whole different team and a whole new series.”

There’s more from New York:

• Friday’s game was especially memorable for Josh Hart, who posted the first triple-double in Knicks’ playoff history since Walt Frazier did it in 1972, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Hart finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists along with a plus-24 rating in 33 minutes. “That’s who he is. He impacts the game in a lot of different ways,” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes people get stuck on, ‘Well, he didn’t shoot the ball, or he didn’t do this.’ “Well, what he is is a basketball player, so it’s transition. It’s the pace. It’s playing out of pocket. It’s making corner threes. It’s doing all the dribble-handoff, hustle plays, offensive rebounds. And then, defensively being everywhere and coming up with big rebounds. I think when you play with that kind of effort, it’s inspiring to the team.”
• Karl-Anthony Towns had been in a slump for much of the series, but he broke out in a big way with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 6, notes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Towns led the charge with 16 first-half points as the Knicks held a 27-point lead at intermission. “My teammates trusted me in positions to score, and I’m glad I was able to repay their trust with some buckets,” he said. “So it’s really a testament to my teammates keeping me involved and allowing me to be aggressive.” 
• Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look inside a players-only meeting held after the Game 5 loss in Boston. There was a feeling that the team let up in the wake of Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tear and didn’t approach the game with enough intensity, according to Katz. “The whole day of Game 5, it just wasn’t us,” Jalen Brunson said. “And we knew that. We reflected on it, and we came back and we said, ‘We need to be ready. We need to be better.’ The way we prepared, the way we talked out there, the way we made it an emphasis to have each other’s back and to continue to cover for each other … focus on the little things, and we did that.”