TORONTO – Finally the Knicks face the defending champions.
The first Knicks-Thunder matchup of the season is Wednesday at MSG – more than five months into the campaign – and not ideal circumstances for Mike Brown’s side.
The Knicks will go back-to-back after beating the Raptors 111-95 on Tuesday, flying from Toronto to New York.
It’s a big test — and a potential preview of the Finals — but both Brown and Josh Hart agreed it won’t serve as an indictment on where the Knicks stand, win or lose.
“Obviously you want to build and learn every game. And we know some games are harder than others when it comes to travel, back-to-back, things like that. [Wednesday] It will be tough, playing back to back against a great team,” Hart said. “But we have to make sure we deliver it, find what we can build on and keep it moving. We’ll let you [in the media] kind of arguing and conversation about the record and the teams.
Brown added: “If they beat us at the end of the day, or if we beat them at the end of the day, what does that mean? But they do a lot of things on that end of the floor. From the standpoint of this, this is a very good defense, a very good offense, they have an MVP candidate (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), they have two bigs (Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren), they have two individual defensemen. So how do we handle things? Do they do that? on both sides of the floor? If we get stuck here, or stuck there, this is an opportunity for further growth.”
The Knicks were defeated by the Thunder in two games last season. They face them again on March 29 in Oklahoma City.
Brown played Mitchell Robinson in Toronto on Tuesday and prioritized that win on Wednesday against the Thunder.
The coach explained why: “[The Raptors] being in our conference and all that stuff,” Brown said. “Oklahoma City is in the Western Conference.”
Robinson, who underwent multiple ankle surgeries, has not played in either set of back-to-backs this season and is happy with that plan because it has kept him healthy.
“I feel great. It’s great,” Robinson said. “We just have to stick to this plan that we are working on.”
***Robinson clutched his surgically repaired ankle and limped to his feet after fighting for a rebound in the first quarter on Tuesday.
He left the match, but returned and played in the second half. Robinson said there was no X-ray and didn’t seem concerned.
“I came in here, re-recorded and sat here with my ass [in the locker room] and listened to the coach and went right back out,” Robinson said.
Still, Robinson acknowledged the medical staff will likely take a closer look Wednesday, when Robinson will be on the inactive list because it’s a back-to-back.
“They’ll probably look into it [Wednesday]he said. “But I’m straight.”
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