The New York Knicks are set to start their journey in the NBA Playoffs as the No. 2 seed on Saturday as they will face the Philadelphia 76ers, and both teams have faced adversity this year. The 76ers have missed Joel Embiid for a significant portion of the year, while the Knicks have dealt with injuries to Julius Randle and OG Anunoby this season. Randle is still out, and will not return, while Anunoby is back, and ahead of the playoffs, Knicks star Jalen Brunson had a short explanation for the team’s key in this run, which is that “we know who we are”, as he wrote in his story for The Players’ Tribune.
Brunson went into what the Knicks learned from the adversity and injuries that they have dealt with since January, shortly after OG Anunoby joined the team.
“Coming off that trade, things were great in January,” Jalen Brunson said on The Players’ Tribune. “Then OG and Julius got hurt. And Mitchell, too. But when those two went down, we didn’t really have a timetable for them. We were just going out there every single night playing as hard as we could. The most important thing, to us, was that we were staying afloat, we were winning and we were still pointing ourselves in the direction where we were going to be successful. We defined ourselves in those moments of uncertainty. It highlights something key to our game: We know who we are. It’s in the toughest moments that you learn that.”
The Knicks did not get a normal No. 7 seed in the 76ers. Joel Embiid is potentially the best player in this series, if healthy. But that is the question heading into Game 1. Embiid was good against Miami in the play-in tournament, but was not seemingly moving as if he was 100%.
Jalen Brunson is pumped to play in front of the MSG playoff crowd
The Knicks fanbase got a taste of the playoffs last year, and they will undoubtedly be behind their team this time around, especially as the No. 2 seed with home court advantage against the 76ers. Brunson is ready to get things started and have that crowd on his side at Madison Square Garden.
“Listen man, playoffs in the Garden? It’s gonna be surreal,” Brunson said. “We know you guys are gonna be rockin’ at another level. But the most important thign we have to do is just literally focus on taking it one day at a time. And that’s a message we’re all trying to convey to each other, from the top down — coaches to the players, to everyone. We want to make sure that that’s our whole team’s mindset. We can’t deviate form the path. We all have to be on the same team, we all have to have the same mindset to continue to move forward together.”
Without Randle, the Knicks will not be at full strength, and Brunson will carry the load offensively. However, Anunoby is vital on the defensive end, especially against Embiid. It will be a battle. It starts on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
