Knicks Notes: Brown, Towns, Brunson, Robinson

Knicks owner James Dolan made it clear during a radio interview this winter what his expectations were for the postseason.

We want to get to the [NBA] Finals. And we should win the Finals,” Dolan said then. “This is sports and anything can happen. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do.”

That postseason run begins today with Game 1 against Atlanta at Madison Square Garden. First-year coach Mike Brown is unfazed by the high bar raised by the owner, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic.

“I don’t even think about the last part of the question,” Brown said. “Everybody in that locker room has a competitive spirit that I like, and I can say is unmatched. I love the group. We’re competing, not just for 53 wins; we’re competing, like everyone else is, to win it. … Our competitive spirit is there, and it’s not something that we take lightly.”

Karl-Anthony Towns knows the season will be looked upon as a failure if the Knicks don’t at least reach the Finals.

“It was great that we put ourselves in this position going into the playoffs,” Towns said. “At the end of the day, the regular season doesn’t mean anything if we don’t capitalize on this opportunity.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

• Speaking of Towns, he has a chance to define his legacy with the team in these playoffs, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes. Towns could be the key to the series against the Hawks, Schwartz notes, since Atlanta doesn’t match up well with Towns. Onyeka Okongwu is their biggest starter and is more of a natural power forward than center, giving Towns a size advantage. With Okongwu as his primary defender, Towns went 11-for-14 from the field — and 4-for-6 from 3-point range — along with five assists this season. Overall, Towns averaged 28.5 points — his most against any opponent — in the two games he played against the Hawks this year.
• The Knicks front office has built the team around Jalen Brunson and now we will find out if that approach was sound, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post opines. Their free agent signings and blockbuster trades have all been done with the notion of Brunson being the player to finally lead them to the title that has eluded the franchise for over 50 seasons.
• Mitchell Robinson is healthy for this postseason run. He’ll have to deal with Hack-A-Mitch tactics, with the career 50.8 percent free throw shooter being intentionally fouled to exploit his biggest weakness. Brown says he has a plan for that strategy. “We’ve talked about it. We have different things in mind that we’ll do,” he said, per Bondy. “A lot of them will come down to time and score and feel. But we understand that’s what teams may want to do, especially if our offense is clicking at that point in time.”