00:00If I play for the Knicks, I'm closing this series out against the Hawks tonight,
00:04and I'm going to go get some lemon pepper wings.
00:06So let's talk all things Game 6 with Alex Jotaros and KnicksFanTV.
00:10I know the lemon pepper wings thing was going to make you smile.
00:13I'm hungry myself this morning, Alex, and two people that are hungry for some Game 6 action,
00:20Jalen Brunson, CJ McCollum.
00:22The two have been going back and forth like some podcasters that got beef.
00:27Do you feel as though tonight, Game 6, we should brace ourselves for a Jalen Brunson legacy moment?
00:34I think so.
00:35I think we should brace ourselves for a Jalen Brunson legacy moment, as you mentioned, Brandon,
00:40just because, look, they've got to close this thing out.
00:43Knicks have to close this thing out in 6.
00:44You gave up Game 2.
00:45You had it almost in the bag in Game 3.
00:48You did a phenomenal job for Game 4 and Game 5.
00:51All that will not be looked as wasted if this thing gets pushed to a Game 7.
00:56And so, Brunson understands the moment.
00:58I think this team understands the moment.
00:59And I think the head coach understands this moment.
01:01So, these guys got to continue to play with their backs against the wall.
01:04And I think Jalen Brunson, as we saw in the last game, you can only hold him down for so
01:08long, Brandon.
01:09He had 39 points, right?
01:10Dyson Daniels to kill Alexander Walker.
01:12These guys were doing a really good job just disrupting him from getting into an offensive flow.
01:17But now that he's figured it out, I expect this team to do the exact same thing that they did
01:21in Game 4s and 5.
01:23Here at Game 6, down in the A.
01:25I'm glad when you talk about Jalen Brunson, you said you could only hold him down for so long.
01:29I feel the same way about C.J. McCollum.
01:32Six points in Game 5, that's not him, I feel like.
01:35And now he's going to want to turn it on down in the A.
01:38Do you think that the Knicks can neutralize and stop him again at home, meaning at home in Atlanta?
01:46I think they can, but I think it's also going to depend on if Josh Hart is going to play
01:50tonight.
01:50I know he is designated as questionable based on a back contusion that he suffered in Game 5.
01:55And he's been very instrumental in just the whole wingstop defense that this Knicks team is able to deploy.
02:01Because McHale Bridges, OG Ananobi, Josh Hart, you can rotate all those guys on McHale Bridges,
02:08on CJ McCollum, McHale Alexander Walker, and Jalen Johnson.
02:12So, if you have all three of them healthy, then yeah, you can do the exact same thing again.
02:17Because, especially between OG and Hart, they play a physical brand of basketball.
02:22And CJ, he needs the screens.
02:23He needs somebody to set him up so that way he can get to the mid-range, start getting going
02:27downhill.
02:27But between those two guys, they've been fighting over screens very well, and they've been able to contest.
02:32And look, the defensive second string with Mitchell Robinson, with Deuce McBride, those guys.
02:37Quarks is playing very well defensively too.
02:40Alvarado, those guys can help impact as well.
02:42But you really need wingstop in this one.
02:44So, I'm very curious to see if Josh Hart's going to be healthy.
02:46Because, as you mentioned, Brandon, CJ can only be stopped for so long as well.
02:51Like, he's had a, you know, a small game four and game five.
02:56But we saw what he did in the first three games.
02:58That's key.
02:58Let's stay on the defense, man.
02:59Because I feel like game four and five have been back-to-back defensive masterclasses by this Knicks team.
03:05They've been a lot more physical on both ends on the floor.
03:09But specifically on D, our New York Post colleague, Jared Shorts, has an article out on the Post about that
03:16right now.
03:16What do you feel has changed?
03:19And do you feel like Mike Brown deserves his flowers for the adjustments that's been made?
03:25Absolutely.
03:26I think Mike Brown does deserve his flowers for the adjustments.
03:28I mean, when they started off, they had Cat on Dyson Daniels.
03:32They switched that back to Jalen Brunson to put, you know, Brunson, who's, you know, your weakest defender as of
03:37right now, on the poor shooter on the team.
03:40So just seeing him switch it up and then going from Hart on to CJ, you know, putting McHale on
03:46to kill Alexander Walker.
03:47OG guarding Jalen Johnson, just flipping back and forth.
03:50Like, even OG will guard CJ.
03:52You'll see that Mike Brown is constantly switching up the defense to make sure that nobody on the Hawks' side
03:58is getting comfortable and getting used to that individual who's guarding them.
04:02Because when you have to adjust to not one, but two to three defenders, and then you got to think
04:07about the bench and guys who can fight around the screens as well, that's not easy.
04:11That's not comfortable for anybody because just as soon as you thought you figured it out, you got somebody else
04:15who's going to come in there and then give you some problems.
04:18But I also got to give credit to Carl Anthony Towns, man, because we know what Mitchell Robinson can do
04:22because he's that safety valve, right?
04:24When you know somebody gets past somebody on the perimeter, Mitchell Robinson's right there to meet you in the paint
04:29and deter you from trying to finish around the rim.
04:31Carl Anthony Towns has stepped up, man.
04:33I said this on the most recent postgame.
04:35Since around the All-Star break, Carl Anthony Towns has bought into what Mike Brown is doing, and he's playing
04:40defense at a whole other level.
04:42I mean, the way that he's meeting Jalen Johnson at the rim, you got to give him his flowers too
04:46because, hey, when you got two guys that you can't really challenge at the rim, now you got problems.
04:52And for a Hawks team that likes to get out in transition, they don't have a legitimate half-court offense,
04:57two guys that can protect the rim could make troubles for Atlanta.
05:00So is this game six?
05:03Is this Cats or OG's game to win?
05:05I think it's going to be OG, man.
05:07We just see an OG.
05:08He's been dialed in.
05:10He's been absolutely dialed in.
05:11I mean, the shooting split numbers for the postseason have just been absurd.
05:15So I'm looking for another OG performance.
05:18He's been knocking down the threes.
05:19We know he's been cutting very well.
05:21We know the defensive effort that he gives as that versatile defender.
05:25I'm not shying away from what Carl Anthony Towns has done.
05:28Between those two, those guys have been phenomenal this series, man.
05:32Cat, as we see, he was unlocked in game four and game five.
05:37When he utilizes a hub and he can just be making passes to guys who are cutting, I mean, you
05:41see even the screens that he's setting, man.
05:43Just some solid screens.
05:44I go back to what he did in game five.
05:47You see Dyson Daniels just being a pest on Jalen Brunson.
05:51Brunson passes the ball to Cat.
05:52Cat sets a really good screen to open it up for Jalen Brunson to get an easy layup.
05:56And how about the backdoor screen by Cat to get Josh Hart just a walk-in layup?
06:00Both of these guys are just so phenomenal in the way that they've been playing this series.
06:04But I'm going to go with OG right now because Cat, he's doing it at a very efficient level.
06:09You saw in the last game, took 10 shots.
06:11Only 10 shots, but he's passing the ball and rebounding very well.
06:14OG is the guy who's been giving you that volume offensively.
06:17So I'm going to go with OG.
06:18But don't sweep on Cat, man.
06:19Cat deserves his flowers for everything he's done this series, too.
06:22All right, let's close this segment out.
06:24A scale of 1 to 10, how important is it for the Knicks to close this series out tonight?
06:30Final thoughts, Alex.
06:3210.
06:33Let's go on 10.
06:34Go, go.
06:35They got to close it out tonight, man.
06:36Got to close it out.
06:37Not saying I don't believe in them to close it out in game seven at Madison Square Garden.
06:41But the thing is that you've worked so hard to really put yourself in position to close this thing down
06:47on the Hawks' home court.
06:50And what we've seen in game sevens is that anything could happen, man.
06:54You don't want to put anything to chance.
06:56If you have the opportunity, you got to close it out as soon as possible
06:59because you don't want to be adding on more games to the players.
07:04That's just taxing to the body as we have right now.
07:07Look, the Knicks have had a very clean injury report up until today.
07:10Now they have Hart with a back intusion.
07:12Just finish it out today.
07:14Get everybody rest.
07:15The next matchup, whether it be the Celtics or Philly, that's going to be another challenging battle.
07:19So just close it out today.
07:21And if they don't close it out today, the pressure is just going to be tight for the Knicks
07:26when they get to game seven.
07:27Because you know Madison Square Garden is going to be ā you're going to feel the tension in there.
07:31Guys are going to be a little bit more nervous.
07:33I don't care how seasoned they are.
07:35Game seven, everything's on the line.
07:37Guys are going to be throwing the kitchen sink out there.
07:39You have no idea what's going to happen.
07:40Got to put out in game six.
07:42Well, let's be real, Brandon.
07:43Game six?
07:43The Hawks are on ā got their pressure right now.
07:45You're in your own crib.
07:47You got ā you got to ā it's do or die right now.
07:49They're going to be playing a little tense.
07:51Take ā use that to your advantage.
07:53Got to close it out tonight.
07:54Yeah, I had someone that works at the Garden tell me, I hope I see you game one and not
07:58game seven.
07:59And it took me a little bit to think about it.
08:01But it's like, yeah, no one wants that game seven to be back at the Garden.
08:05Close this thing out and let these boys down and, hey, go ahead and have that fun at Magic City.
08:09But meaning that that's their Cancun.
08:12All right, Alex, appreciate you hopping on with us, man.
08:16Brandon, I appreciate it.
08:17You as always, my guy.
08:20You
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