It’s obvious by now, but the Knicks’ Game 3 win against the Indiana Pacers was quite impressive.
Down by as many as 20 points (where have we heard that before) in the first half, New York was staring down the barrel of being down 0-3 in the series. But for the third time during this playoff run, the Knicks staged a ferocious comeback in the second half and willed themselves to a victory.
“We saw that we were on the brink of it looking pretty dark for us and the way we responded, I think it brings us closer together,” Jalen Brunson said via a Zoom call on Monday.
Listen to this, New York is now 3-2 this postseason after being down 20 or more points. All other teams since the play-by-play era (1996-97 season)? 25-835.
That is to say, it just doesn’t happen often.
At the helm of it all has been head coach Tom Thibodeau, now in his fifth season coaching the Knicks and his 13th year as a head coach following stints with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.
During his time in New York, Thibodeau has gone 226-174 and has reached the playoffs in four out of his five seasons. In fact, Thibs has failed to make the postseason just three times as a head coach.
Despite so much playoff experience, the 67-year-old has never made it to the NBA Finals and is 47-53 in the postseason. Simply reaching the Conference Finals is an accomplishment for Thibodeau who hasn’t been here since the 2010-11 season — his first season as a head coach with the Bulls.
So when the Knicks pulled out the win in Game 3, yes, they did it for one another, but they also did it for coach whether they were aware or not.
“He’s obviously been in a lot of battles. He’s been on different teams that have had different successes,” Brunson said about Thibodeau. “We haven’t necessarily talked about it, but now that you ask that question, watching this man work tirelessly day in and day out, 364 days out of the year, he maybe takes one day off, it would mean a lot (to make the Finals).
“I know he’s not thinking about that, I know he’s not thinking about what it would mean to him, he’s just thinking about what can we do better in Game 4.”
Brunson is right. During his Zoom call with the media, Thibodeau was only thinking about ways to improve his team for Tuesday’s battle in Indiana. After all, New York is still down 2-1 in the series.
However, he did allow himself to discuss what about the team he enjoyed and focused on the journey rather than the destination.
“I try not to get wrapped up in anything that’s personal,” Thibs said. “I think everything is team-oriented and so when you’re with a team you want to maximize all the opportunities that you do get and you wanna try and get the most out of your group. And I think each day when you have a committed group that’s what you enjoy. You enjoy the challenge of it all.
“Each day you’re gonna be tested in a different way and if you love competition this is the best for competition. So we’re fortunate, we have a great group of guys and we work as hard as we can each and every day. Sometimes we fall short and the next day come back with more determination to fix it and get better.
“I think that’s where you get enjoyment and when you’re with a good group of people that feel that the team is the most important thing, that’s what makes it enjoyable.”
With so much Villanova representation on the team, it’s been well-documented how far back some of the players go. Still, for the most part, a lot of this year’s team looks different than last year’s and in year’s past.
Brunson says building that chemistry remains a work in progress.
“It’s definitely an ongoing process. Obviously the longer you’re with your teammates, the more you understand them,” he said. “The way I’ve been able to kind of connect with these guys on a daily basis definitely helps. It takes time. It takes time for teams and chemistry to bond and I feel like we have great chemistry, but we’re able to push each other out of our comfort zones and to make each other better, I think that’s when it takes another step.”
Nevertheless, having chemistry and being friends with everybody on the team doesn’t necessarily translate to championships.
It’s only when a team has the right mix of players, attitude, coaching and skill that helps them reach the top. Brunson and the Knicks believe they have that and Game 3 was a perfect example of them showing it.
“In order to go through and do something special, you have to go through a lot of adversity, you have to go through a lot of questioning mentally internally if we’re gonna do this,” he said. “It can make or break teams and I think what we did last night definitely helps us.
“I feel like internally we think we can do it, but when we’re actually going through it and when we actually do it in a time like this, like I said it brings us closer together.”
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