The Knicks are sleeping in their own beds, spending time with loved ones, enjoying another week-plus off after their second consecutive sweep.
But they will not get too comfortable during the layoff, preparing for their first series-opener on the road in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“I think it helps even just being on the road a little bit, being in a hostile environment,” Mikal Bridges said following Thursday’s practice. “That should just get the mindset right off the jump anyway … Second time going around it, knowing that, ‘OK, we just got to pick it up.’ ”
Whether it was the result of rest or rust, the Knicks put up their worst three quarters of the postseason in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, nine days after completing their sweep of the 76ers.
They opened 4-of-23 on 3-pointers. They scored 71 points in the first 40 minutes, falling behind by 22. A night defined by Jalen Brunson’s heroics started with the Knicks’ leading man shooting 7-of-19 (0-for-5 on 3-pointers) before he guided the greatest postseason comeback in franchise history.
This time, the crowd will not help carry them to the finish line. This time, the Knicks will enter a series as underdogs for the first time this postseason, facing one of the toughest defenses of this era.
“Comparing our situation from last time, just being mentally and physically locked in,” Brunson said. “I think that’s really important for us and that’s what we have to focus on these next couple of days.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown’s seventh appearance in the NBA Finals will be his third trip after an extended break.
In 2017, he filled in for Steve Kerr, leading the Warriors to a sweep in the Western Conference finals before Golden State cruised to a title. Following a sweep in the 2019 conference finals, the Warriors lost Game 1 on the road in Toronto and eventually the series.
“It’s hard to manufacture the competitive environment that you’re going to be in in Game 1,” Brown said. “So [we want] to continue to just find different ways to keep that competitive spirit or to keep that edge as high as you can … The biggest thing that I think should help us is knowing that as a group, the last time we went through this we started off a little slow in that game, and we can’t afford to do that again. Our guys, they’re a veteran group. They’ve been really resilient, and they’ve done a good job of growing quickly anytime they’ve hit adversity.
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“The biggest thing is reminding them what happened in Game 1 of our last series, and let them know that when you’re watching these teams, it can’t happen this time around.”
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