Imagine choosing to play a series-clinching game without your best player and Duracell bunny. That’s Thibs.

Blame it on the coach, or blame it on whoever you prefer, but one and only one thing is factual about Tuesday’s Game 5, and that’s New York failed to clinch a place in the second round of the playoffs.

The Knicks fumbled the rock home, dropped Game 5 by three points, losing 106-103 to the visiting Pistons, and will need to close out the series in Detroit on Thursday or—God forbid—under the bright lights and heightened pressure that will inhabit Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a buncha folks said before and after yesterday’s forgettable game.

Tom Thibodeau

On his late-game no-timeout decision:

“It’s just where we were with the timeouts—it was a coach’s decision. Time. Score. Penalty. All of the above. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

On Game 5 officiating:

“It is what it is.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s Game 5 performance:

“I thought Mitch gave us a good lift, good energy. The rebounding was good enough. Defense was good enough. Our turnovers hurt us, so we gotta clean that up.”

On the Game 6 mindset:

“The way we have to look at it is, what is it going to take to win the game. Anytime you’re facing an opponent that’s looking at a close-out situation, you know you’re going to get great intensity in the game. And we have to play great for 48 minutes.

“What goes into that? Intensity, intelligence and togetherness.”

Jalen Brunson

On his Game 5 offensive struggles:

“Offensively, I didn’t make good decisions. Ball wasn’t going in the hoop for me.”

On confidence in his teammates despite the loss:

“It’s tough, but I have the utmost faith regardless of the result in my teammates. Whoever is out there, trust, faith, belief, all that, I’ll always have that with my teammates.”

On being sidelined in crunch time of Game 5:

“It was tough.”

On Ausar Thompson’s defense:

“He’s a great defender, with the way he’s been able to pick up and do all the things [he does]. Me, personally, and us as a team, we need to figure out how to combat that.”

On the Game 6 mindset:

“We are in the point of the season where it’s win or go home. We have no choice but to trust each other. I feel like once we are in a position where are backs are against the wall, we have to lean on each other for help and everything. We have that trust. We have that chemistry. I’m just happy we were able to go into a hostile environment and able to get two wins.”

On closing out the series at MSG or wherever:

“It’s a big deal to win a series, regardless of where you’re at in my eyes. I think it’s very special to win at The Garden. But to close out, you have to close out wherever you are. We have an opportunity to close out tonight.”

On his health status after Tuesday’s injury scare:

“I’m all good.”

On how he attacks bigger defenders:

“It’s part of the game. I think when you have guys who are 6–7, 6–8, long arms, all that, they’re gonna use it to their advantage.

“My advantage—I feel like it’s my strength—is the way I’m able to use my footwork and find different angles to attack. I don’t know how else to say it, but I like the way I’m able to use my body to get off defenders and find ways to attack.”

On the competition against Detroit:

“It’s just two teams going at it and trying to find a way to win. It doesn’t matter what the situation is or what the matchups are. We’re just two teams competing.”

On whether or not he’s learning new things from teammates thought the Pistons series:

“I have, and I’ll keep that to myself.”

Josh Hart

On missing the final stretch of Game 5:

“Obviously, that’s tough. You want to be out there. But we had good looks. I trust my guys. We had a couple of good shots to cut that lead. They just didn’t go in. It’s basketball. It happens.”

On his physical condition after leaving Game 6 injured:

“Just needed to regroup, walk it off, and try to go back in. My whole body’s bothering me.”

On the team’s Game 6 focus:

“We’ve got to go out there and win the game. We’ve got to go out there and compete. We’ve got to go out there and be physical. Not worry about foul calls, or refs, or anything like that. We’ve got to make sure we can control what we can control.”

Mikal Bridges

On Brunson’s absence late in Game 5 impacting the Knicks’ play:

“It’s different. You know he’s going to have that ball—it doesn’t mean we can’t step up.

“I should’ve made shots and held it down for him as much as he holds it down for us.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On failing to close the series at MSG:

“Honestly we just want to close out a series. We’re not getting caught up in no stats like that. As long as the series gets closed out and the Knicks move onto the next round, that’s all we care about.”

On the Game 5 loss:

“You expected that. It’s a closeout game, 3–1, and you expect them to come out desperate and also come with that energy. Season’s on the line. They hit shots when they had to and got the stops they need when they needed to.”

On Game 6 adjustments:

“We have been very gritty this whole series, but we didn’t find a way tonight. What do I want to do differently in Game 6? Win the game.”

On the narrow margins in the series:

“We haven’t put ourselves in position to get a commanding win. We’ve been very gritty this whole series and physical and it’s allowed us to find a way a lot of times to win.

“I think what was the point differential in Detroit, like three points? You only can do it so many times before it comes back to bite you.”

J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons Head Coach)

On the officiating talk after Game 4:

“It’s one of those things that are just completely out of your control. And I hate to make this series about refereeing and officials because it’s not right. This series is about two highly-competitive teams battling their tails off, trying to do whatever it takes to win. The physicality, I believe, is a good thing for the game. It’s a good thing for us.”

On Ausar Thompson’s defense on Brunson in Game 5:

“It all started with Ausar and his defense. He was phenomenal defensively tonight. A lot of credit should be given to him.”

On thriving under the MSG atmosphere:

“Our guys feed off the energy of the opponent’s crowd. Talking (expletive). Making noise. They embrace the chaos, and they’re comfortable there. Some people need the support of their home crowd, our guys embrace the chaos.”

On Towns’ Game 4 performance before Game 5:

“At that size where his release point is, it’s tough to challenge [him]. So you tip your hat to him ‘cause he is an elite offensive player… but again, how did he get there? The stepback off the bounce you live with. But there were a couple catch-and-shoots that I felt we could have done a better job of getting to him sooner.”

Ausar Thompson (Detroit Pistons Player)

On the Pistons’ mindset after the Game 5 win:

“Our mindset was to keep playing our brand of basketball. Down 3–1, doesn’t matter. Just keep pushing the pace, keep playing defense, keep getting stops, and that’s when we’re at our best.”

Tobias Harris (Detroit Pistons Player)

On the NBA’s acknowledging the refs misscalled Josh Hart’s late foul on Tim Hardaway:

“Yeah, for sure, I think that makes it hurt, sting more, for sure. But that’s in the past now.”

On his supposed fouling of Hart before the no-call on Hardaway’s shot:

“I didn’t [foul him]. I don’t understand it. I’ve seen a little bit of that [take] and to be honest, I thought that [Hart] pulled my arm in.

“It can go both ways selectively, whatever somebody wants to believe. Then I see pictures saying that I’m out of bounds, it just made me really realize that the internet propaganda is just unbelievable. You can really get sold, I promise you. One of them—I was like, dang, maybe I am out of bounds. Then I look at another angle and I’m like, hell no, I’m not out of bounds. Who is splitting all these photos and lies?”

On the series’ physicality:

“We talk all game long, guys go in for boards, pushing and shoving. Josh Hart is shoving. I’m shoving. We’re trying to get the basketball, right? So at the end of the day, to me, at that point, when I went for the rebound, I was like, ‘dang, that was a battle to get the board.’ I thought maybe they could have called a foul there. They didn’t. But on Tim Hardaway’s shot, that was what it was.”

On playing Game 6 in Detroit:

“We’re just focused on the next [game], that’s the best one for us. That’s in our arena and we need to go get a victory there. Our fans deserve that. That energy that they bring night in and night out. We want it, and that’s the only thing we’re looking forward to right now.”

Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons Player)

On the controversial ending of Game 4:

“We knew they got it wrong in the moment, so it’s really no difference.”

On enjoying the MSG atmosphere:

“It’s everything you dream of. It’s playing with a full arena, a bunch of people booing you. That’s everything you dream of.”

On the possibility of forcing a Game 7 back at the Garden after their Game 5 win:

“We’ll be back.”

On summing up his first postseason series:

“I wouldn’t sum it up yet.”

Malik Beasley (Detroit Pistons Player)

On the NBA acknowledging the missed call:

“What’s the point of doing that if we can’t go back and shoot free throws?

“To us, it’s just Detroit against the world, and we’re gonna keep doing that. We’ve been rebounding all year, so I think this is the easiest one.

“Obviously, it’s the most hurt one, too, but we know the value of the next game and how important this game is, so I think all of us have a next-game mentality and that’s how we feel right now.”