Knicks Bulletin: “I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little ‘stitious.’”

The Knicks played on Saturday and were already practicing on Sunday ahead of Game 2, scheduled to tip-off on Monday evening at MSG.

New York will try to go up two before flying to Philly on a Sixers team that looked great with Joel Embiid but which dearly missed him when he sat during stretches of Game 1.

Here is what a few Knickerbockers said on Sunday, as well an Embiid little update.

Tom Thibodeau

On Deuce McBride’s mentality and skill set...

“If you’re looking at it from the outside, you don’t see the work that he does every day. And then every time he’s gotten an opportunity he’s responded well. There’s things that he does that you know will translate. The defense is always going to be there, the hustle is always going to be there and his shooting — he’s done an incredible amount of work on his shooting. It shows and credit to him, he’s worked extremely hard. He’s got great versatility because he can guard multiple positions.”

On what makes Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey dangerous...

“[His] speed. Speed is a major concern because he gets downhill to the rim. His shooting has really improved. So you combine those two things, it’s a lot. So we’re going to have to guard him with our team, as we would with Joel.”

“In many ways, he’s an offense unto himself. So we’ve gotta take care of that with our team.”

On Donte DiVincenzo giving way to Deuce McBride in Game 1 without complaining...

“That’s who we are, we’re a team. So some nights it’s not your night, it’s someone else’s night. Everyone sacrifices, and Donte, he’s great. He’s terrific. He’s had a great year for us, and we need him. So whatever is gonna give us our best chance to win, that’s what we’re doing.”

On Bogdanovic’s contributions on Saturday...

“Bogey gave us really good minutes. I think experience is important, and you learn from that.”

On Precious Achiuwa getting removed from the playoffs rotation...

“It’s the playoffs, and rotations get tight, but you need everyone, you know it can change at any moment.”

Josh Hart

On getting advantage of the Sixers’ defense leaving him open and getting fired while at it...

“I knew I was going to be left open, disrespected on the 3-point line, and if you base it off numbers in the regular season, I think I shot like 30 percent. So it’s a smart game plan. For me, it’s just continue to take shots... and make them respect me.”

“I was saying a bunch of stuff. Some expletives. So tell my mom and dad sorry for the language. It was just the passion that I play with.”

On getting compared to former Knicks legends from the 90s squads...

“When I see [former Knicks guard] John Starks, he always mentions it, the toughness and method they had, that the city has and this team has, myself included. For me, that’s a huge accomplishment. That’s what I feel like — this city, the team, this franchise, especially with Thibs [Tom Thibodeau] and [team president] Leon [Rose] and Wes [Senior VP William Wesley] — that’s what we’re building.”

On his playing gritty playing style and finding his home in New York...

“For me, really, [New York] fits my game. I’m someone who’s just a regular person, who goes out there and plays the game extremely hard, extremely passionate, and just resilient. I think that’s the biggest thing. I think that’s what this city is, in general. That’s just how I feel like I am.”

“I’m going to bring the energy, I’m going to bring the passion, toughness and if I get knocked down, I’m going to pick myself up. Sometimes I might have to have my teammates pick me up. But that’s just my mentality.”

On MSG’s Celebry Row...

“Those are guys who are lifelong Knicks fans. All of them talk about being in the nosebleeds when they were kids, scalping tickets and now they’re [getting] $100,000 seats. But for sure, it’s cool, because you see the passion that they have. It’s not just like they’re on the court kind of having fun, wanting to be seen. They’re really passionate fans.”

On embracing New York by donning the NY braided hairstyle...

“I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little ‘stitious.’”

On his NY-styled braids and stylist...

“She did it for me last year and she’s like one of the hair braiders that’s the GOAT. [Former NBA player] Gerald Green, she did all of his when he was doing his dope hairstyles. I always knew when we got to the playoffs, I’m going to have to fly her up, do the ‘NY’ again. It’s been thought about for a while. I just wanted to make sure it was the right time to do it.”

Miles McBride

On having a breakout game during his first real postseason action on Saturday and getting praised by Brunson...

“It feels great. Obviously, [Brunson] has been our leader all year. He put a lot of confidence in me. He’s been talking to me a lot for the last two years. Just happy we were able to go out there and get the win.”

On what he’s learned from facing Philadelphia during the season...

“This is our fifth time playing [the Sixers] this year. So I think his speed is definitely one of his best attributes. But I feel like I’m pretty fast, too.”

On taking advantage on the Sixers’ focus on Jalen Brunson...

“I think their plan was definitely more focused on getting the ball out of Jalen’s hands. That’s the poison they picked, and [we] got to make them pay.”

Bojan Bogdanovic

On staying patient while having a reserve role in New York...

“I’m experienced enough to know that you have to wait for your moment, and you never know when it’s gonna come.”

Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach)

On Embiid’s status heading into Game 2 after the Game 1 injury scare...

“Uh, (he looked) pretty good (in practice on Sunday), I think. I asked him how he was feeling; he said pretty good.”

On Embiid’s eye ...

“It’s OK. It’s OK. Nope (he didn’t suffer any injury/fracture). He’s OK.”

On Embiid’s play coming off multiple weeks on the shelves and the rest of his teammates needing to do more...

“Joel battled pretty good down there, trying to get his body on people to block out. There’s some other things we can do that I can’t really tell you about that we can help him with. But I think he did a pretty decent job. I mean, decent; he needs to do better. But he was putting his body on them and moving them out quite a bit. So again, yes he needs to do better, but so do the other four guys out there.”

On the Knicks' domination of the offensive boards...

“A lot of things got confirmed from what we all saw live. Listen, we did a couple things really, really well, as far as schematically and what we were trying to do. We didn’t do one thing very well. … We let them play to one of their strengths, like, absolutely to the max.”

On Buddy Hield having a disastrous postseason debut...

“Buddy [Hield] didn’t get much of a chance. … He did have a couple of plays there. He didn’t play good. It’s a game where you can’t extend minutes when a guy has three or four mistakes. But I do say this: He’ll be a factor in the series. I think Kelly can play a lot better too, right? I don’t think he was nearly the athlete he needed to be. … But he understands that, too.”

On Tyrse Maxey’s performance in Game 1...

“He’s trying to find his way. I think he was really awesome in the second half. Again, it’s his first playoff game as a lead point guard. I think he played a hell of a game. He played a lot of minutes and played a hell of a game. That as a first playoff game.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On the Knicks' second unit stepping up to beat Philly in Game 1...

“McBride hit shots. [Bojan Bogdanovic] hit some shots. They’re starters on the reserve team, so they’re great players that can get to their spots to get the shots. We just can’t sleep on anyone on this team because they’re a good team.”

Nicolas Batum

On what the Sixers couldn’t do on Saturday and have to improve if they want to steal Game 2...

“Rebound. In a playoff game, that’s way too much.”