Knicks Bulletin: “Jalen decided he didn’t want to play.”

The New York Knicks worked some magic on Sunday and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-98 on the road while missing four starters from the first few seconds of the game on.

That’s because Jalen Brunson suffered a knee injury barely a bunch of dribbles into the game and was forced off the court quickly and never returning. The Knickerbockers were their resilient shelves and once more proved to be the hapless Cavs’ kryptonite, as was the case last April.

Here is what the protagonists of Sunday’s game had to say before and after the game.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Knicks' effort at the end of the game limiting Cleveland to just two points in the final 4:40 minutes of play...

“When you’re shorthanded your margin for error is small. So you have to play with great intensity, great concentration on every play. That’s the one thing I’m proud of.”

“These guys—we haven’t had our starting front line for a long time, so add in Jalen. But the guys who were in there got the job done.”

On what happened to Jalen Brunson before he was removed with a knee injury...

“He bumped knees. That’s what happened. He got the X-rays, was examined by the doctor. Everything was negative. We’ll see where he is [Monday].”

On the chances of Brunson returning in time to start against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday...

“I guess. It’s a knee contusion and everything was negative, so we’ll see where he is tomorrow.”

On navigating the regular season while having a lot of players out injured...

“It’s been really the story of the season. We’ve been fighting shorthanded since December, so just keep fighting. That’s all we can do.”

On what Miles McBride and Alec Burks’ skill sets add to the Knicks...

“I think in today’s game, he’s a guard. I like the versatility. I like using Jalen [Brunson] that way, as well. So I think they play off each other really well.”

”I think Alec [Burks] does the same thing. That was one of the big reasons why we picked up Alec because we knew he could play handling the ball and then play off the ball, as well.”

Miles McBride

On playing 47 minutes in replacement of the injured Jalen Brunson in the win against Cleveland...

“I feel fine honestly. That’s what I put in the offseason work for. I prepare my body for this. You never know what’s going to happen. [Brunson] should be fine hopefully, but got to be ready for anything.”

On his position in the Knicks pecking order, one that now includes buyout-addition Shake Milton...

“I really try not to worry about it. I think I can just do what I can do, work as hard as I can. If my name is called, my name is called. Anything else really just doesn’t affect me.”

On his expectations entering this season...

“I definitely felt coming into this year, just understanding the NBA game a little bit more, knowing where I’m going to get my shots. I felt like coming into this year I was going to make a big stride.”

Donte DiVincenzo

On Jalen Brunson’s injury...

“You don’t want to see anyone go down like that. He’s one of the toughest guys in the league. I know he’ll be ready to go.”

“I asked him if he was OK. And he said ‘I’ll be fine.’ And that’s everything to me. Like I said the last time he went down [with a sprained ankle earlier in the season], I don’t worry about Jalen. He’s one of the toughest guys in the league. So whatever it is, I truly can say, I don’t know. Whatever it is, he’s going to bounce back. He’s tough as nails.”

On snatching the win against the Cavs even though the team was missing four starters including Brunson from the first minute...

“It’s huge. You look at it, we’re down four starters, they’re down one starter. You look at the matchups and the thing about us is we’re gritty.”

“We’re collectively together. There’s not one guy who wants to go out there and outshine anybody. That’s our goal: win the game. It doesn’t matter how we do it.”

On Deuce McBride logging 47 minutes in Brunson’s absence to beat the Cavs...

“He’s got them young legs!”

Josh Hart

On what fuels his game...

“Some guys get going by knocking down a shot. Honestly, I really get going by getting a defensive rebound, getting rebounds.”

“I felt like I shot the ball well today. I had a couple—had the shot clock ones I just had to throw up, but for me, I get going more so by just kinda like toughness plays.”

On staying focused and keeping his practicing and training up all season long...

”I feel like I’m kinda getting myself into the game. So that’s part of it. And I feel pretty confident right now. I’ve been working my butt off the last two, three, four weeks, just getting back to the basics, getting back to rotation.”

On Jalen Brunson’s injury...

“Jalen decided he didn’t want to play.”

“When a guy goes down, you have to find a way. We had to go out there and play our game.”

On Deuce McBride’s outing against the Cavs on a virtual starting point guard role, playing 47 minutes...

“He was running around with Darius Garland. And if Garland wasn’t in the game, he was running around with [Max] Strus and [Sam] Merrill. So that speaks volumes to his conditioning, his competitiveness, his tenacity. At the end of the day, once you’re in it, that competitive nature really kinda just takes over. He had that. For him to play 47 minutes straight — it’s absurd.”

On toying with Donovan Mitchell’s necklace following a game-deciding three-point of late...

“I saw Donovan and obviously that’s my guy and then I saw the chain and I was like, ‘Ooh! That’s nice.’”

Jalen Brunson

On Deuce McBride’s increased role of late...

“He’s been playing great. He’s taking full advantage of his opportunity. And the thing he’s been able to do has helped us.”

”So yes he’s playing well, yes he’s taking advantage. I’m not sure what his plus-minus is. When he’s out there, he’s making things go.”

Isaiah Hartenstein

On whether or not he banged his knee with Jalen Brunson thus injuring the point guard...

“I don’t think so. I saw him on the video keep running. I didn’t feel much.”

On coming back from his Achilles injury while steadily increasing his minutes...

“I’m more comfortable and just catching my rhythm, I think that’s the biggest thing. [Thursday night] I felt like some stuff was a little slow, but that will all come with time, so that’s nothing I’m worried about right now.”

“I feel [the Achilles issue] a little bit, but that’s why you ramp it up because it will get better and better. We don’t want to spike it up too much at this point. We have a good program in place. It’ll get better. That’s the good thing about it.”

J.B. Bickerstaff (Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach)

On Jalen Brunson’s leadership and how to stop him (comments made before tip-off)...

“He’s the heart and spirit to that team, so what our focus is, is trying to keep him out of the game and not let him make the hustle plays and outwork us and get the Knicks going. You’ve got to keep him off the boards because he does a great job of crashing and his team feeds off of that.”

On not having a clue about how to stop the Brunson-less Knicks...

“I think we let our guard down. We prepared for a matchup one way, and I think without [Brunson] we thought that it was going to be a little bit easier and let our guard down. They had different guys contribute and make plays, and you give NBA players with talent an opportunity late, they’re going to bite you in the ass.”

“We played in spurts. We had a good second quarter. But to come out of halftime and give up 36 points to a team that was down as many guys as they were down, that’s disappointing defensively. We’ve got to be better than that.”