Knicks just ‘focused on the task at hand’ heading into Indiana for Game 6
After a tough back-and-forth first round matchup, the shorthanded Knicks were able to close out their series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers by pulling out a Game 6 win on the road at Wells Fargo Arena.
Now, just two weeks later, New York finds itself in a similar situation as the tam can close out its second round matchup and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a road win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Despite the similarities after going blow for blow with Indiana over the first five games of this series, head coach Tom Thibodeau says Friday’s contest is different and they have to stay focused on the task at hand.
“This is totally different,” he said. “We have to be locked in to exactly what we have to do against Indiana. Philly has nothing to do with this, last game has nothing to do with this, every game is different. We just have to be locked in and ready for this game.”
New York is coming off a dominant showing on its home court, but the last time the Knicks were at Gainbridge Fieldhouse they dropped consecutive games, the second of which was a 30-point Pacers win.
The Knicks, who have gotten off to a slow start in the majority of their games this postseason, know they can’t let that happen again and they have to come out flying to quiet down the rowdy road crowd.
“The last time we were in that building, we got our butts kicked,” Josh Hart said. “We didn’t embody what Thibs is, what this team is, what this city is, and it was embarrassing. So we have to come out with energy, physicality, and just a sense of toughness and resilience.”
