New York host the can’t-get-luckier Pacers for Game 2 of the ECF inside MSG today.

We keep hearing about Reggie this, Reggie that, but what nobody seems to talk about is the Pacers lost that series and the Knicks advanced.

New York will try to pull off the same historic feat—screwing the worse of the two Millers—by beating the Pacers inside MSG tonight to even the ECF heading into two-game stint up in Indy.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few other folks have said before Friday’s game.

Tom Thibodeau

On what happened during the Knicks’ late Game 1 collapse:

“Your defense, you gotta be able to count on your defense. We missed some free throws. We gotta make sure we have an awareness as to what’s going on. … The turnovers were costly. They converted them into easy buckets. And so, that sort of fueled their offense as it got them going again. They started off the game in a good rhythm and then we did much better as the [first] half went on. And then down the stretch, we didn’t do what we needed to do.”

On learning from the loss:

“You have to take disappointment and turn that into more determination. … There’s a lot of emotional highs and lows in the playoffs. You’ve got to bounce back quickly. You look at the film, make your corrections and get ready for Game 2.”

On the need to close games:

“We had a big lead—14-point lead with 2:50 to go. We fouled in the penalty, so we stopped the clock. We gave them open threes, we missed free throws, we gave them second shots. And that’s why no lead is safe — you have to play all 48 minutes. You’ve gotta challenge shots. You’ve gotta have awareness of what’s going on in a game.”

On the mental challenge after the loss:

“I think that’s the playoffs. That’s the challenge. You always have to reset. There’s gonna be a lot of emotional highs and lows, and you’ve gotta be able to take a punch and bounce back. So that’s all we’re thinking about — how we move forward, be ready for the next challenge, and what did you learn from it?”

On how to move on:

“It’s a tough loss, tough losses are a part of this league. It happens. You’ve gotta bounce back. It’s how you respond to what happened. The game is over with. You move on. Be ready for the next game.”

On the need for defensive accountability:

“When you look at our fast break points on the season and the playoffs, I think people overlook that. We scored 135 points. That should be more than enough. So we’ve got to lock into what we do better defensively.”

Jalen Brunson

On the miscommunications and late defense in Game 1:

“Good teams, when they have a hot shooter, they find him. We gave open shots to him. … Once he hits one I’ve got to do a better job of finding him. He got one or two that started it off. It’s not the way to close the game.”

On the mindset for Game 2:

“I think win or lose, just [have] a short-term memory. And you get ready for Game 2, regardless. It could have been a blow out, we still gotta get ready for Game 2. I’m pretty sure everyone’s gonna be thinking about it. But I think our mindset has to be short-term memory. Just from the disappointment part – obviously we gotta learn from what we did, but the short-term memory comes from the disappointment and discouragement of how we lost last night. Just gotta be ready to go.”

On what went wrong late in Game 1:

“Obviously we got a nice lead — a good enough lead to where we should have been able to close the game out. I think it just comes down to remaining focused and keeping our heads for a full 48 minutes. You can’t let up — not against a team like that.”

On what the team must do now:

“Turn the page. Just gotta turn the page. We gotta obviously know what we did wrong but we gotta turn the page.”

On the challenge presented by Indiana’s style:

“This is the challenge they present. We’re gonna have to deal with it regardless. It’s what they do. You’ve got to be ready for it. It’s all about game-planning and being ready to execute.”

Mikal Bridges

On the team’s expected response:

“I think we’re all good. Just come in here, watching film, [talk about] whatever we have to talk about and watch the film. Pretty much that. Like I said, energy was good. We understood what we did wrong. I think we’re all good. You definitely can’t let one game — it’s not the end of the world. Obviously we all want that game back. But we’ve got another chance at it [Friday].”

On the Knicks’ late-game issues:

“Yeah, energy is fine. Energy is pretty high. I think vibes are good. I think it’s just, you know, just own up to not finishing strong. But other than that, the beginning, they started making every shot. We figured it out, got better, good fourth-quarter start. So it was just them last five minutes, learning from it, just owning up to it and knowing what we have to do better. Obviously, we want that game back. But it’s a seven-game series. So, come out, be better, but hopefully finish next game.”

On managing and adapting to Indiana’s pace:

“I think in the beginning, throughout, [their pace] got on us, but towards the end we started to figure it out, building that lead in the fourth and everything. You’ve just got to maintain it. That’s the biggest thing — you’ve got to maintain the communication and help each other. You can’t relax with them, and I think that’s what happened in the last five minutes. We got the lead and we were doing well, and once you relax that little bit, they take full advantage. They’re not going to stop. Especially when they’re down. They’ll probably play even faster. So we’ve got to stay locked in the whole game.”

On communication breakdowns leading to Wednesday’s collapse:

“I think it’s our miscommunication. It’s us miscommunicating and just relaxing a little bit when we have a big lead kind of messed us up. They got some threes and obviously Nesmith making a lot of shots. But we made it easy — didn’t make it harder. Nesmith stayed hot and we miscommunicated and he made a couple more, some rhythm ones. So when he’s hot and keep getting rhythm threes, it’s not going to be a good thing for us.”

On mental mistakes in Game 1:

“It comes from just relaxing a little bit. Just relax for a second, then you’re a step late or maybe [you] forget, I got to switch here or rotate there. It’s just maintaining that throughout the whole game.”

Josh Hart

On responding to the loss:

“Obviously, it’s a tough one, we’re all disappointed in it. But the series is not over after one game.”

On avoiding a collapse repeat:

“We got to make sure we don’t make that mistake again.”

Rick Carlisle

On Haliburton’s buzzer-beater:

“It looked like it had a chance. It was awfully high.”

On Indiana’s persistence:

“We were very much teetering on the edge. We talked in the huddle — we had a couple of timeouts that we had to take, and we talked in the huddle about, ‘Just keep working the game. Keep making it hard on these guys.’ … You’ve just got to keep playing, you know? The game is long.”

On Indiana’s resilience this season:

“We’ve had a lot of these games this year. We’ve probably had a dozen of them throughout the season. A lot of the games early, where we were struggling, were games we had to pull out … it’s a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. It’s not easy. It’s not easy.”

On Nesmith’s performance:

“So he came back in the game fresh and he had his legs. Aaron got hot certainly at the right time.”

Tyrese Haliburton

On his early years and growth in Indiana:

“When I got traded here we weren’t very good, and so we would be in these moments where I would have to take these shots, and I would miss them, and nobody would care. We weren’t very good, so it didn’t matter. We weren’t a playoff team or anything. So I feel like that kind of like baptism by fire, almost to do that, and then now be in these situations where obviously they matter on such a bigger scale, I think is important for me.”

On the trust of his team and fans:

“I think that the biggest thing for me is, I already have the confidence to take the shot in the moment, but I have that confidence from my group. My group wants me to take those shots. My coaching staff wants me to take those shots. I think our organization wants me to take their shots. I think now we’re at the point where our fans want me to take that shot, you know? So, I think everybody’s living and dying with it at that point.”

On Indiana’s relentless style and the Knicks wearing down:

“I think maybe you could say that. They missed a couple of free throws there down the stretch. Had a couple of short misses down the end of the game … I think it’s hard for me to discredit, and say that the ‘wear-down effect’ wasn’t there, you know? I think from everything that you’re seeing, that’s a part of it, and I think that’s a part of our identity — how can we wear on teams for 48 minutes? Obviously, picking up full court, but as well as our offensive pressure, getting downhill, moving, playing fast, I thought that we did a good job offensively of playing our style.”

On the choke sign tribute to Reggie Miller:

“I know that they didn’t win the series. I would not like to repeat that, but I think that was a historic moment. That was more him vs. Spike, one-one-one. (Mine) felt like it was for everybody but (Miller), too. I wanted him to see it more than anything. I think it’s just really cool to make my own history and for this group to make our own history while also showing respect and love to the ones who came before us. It’s definitely a special moment and something I won’t forget.”

On Indiana’s game plan:

“It’s hard for me to discredit and say the wear-down effect wasn’t there. That’s part of our identity: How can we wear on teams for 48 minutes? Picking up full court, our offensive pressure, getting downhill, moving, playing fast. I thought we did a good job playing our style.”

Aaron Nesmith

On Haliburton’s buzzer-beater:

“In all honesty, when he pulled it out and shot it, I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ And then it bounced up—straight up—and I just watched it. And I was, like, ‘Oh, that’s good.’”

On wanting the last shot:

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But big-time players make big-time plays and that’s what [Haliburton] continues to do on a daily basis.”

Myles Turner

On rallying the team after the Haliburton shot failed to clinch the game but rather OT:

“Grab everybody by their jersey, their neck, their arm — whatever it takes. Just get them in the huddle and tell them, ‘Let’s go, man. It’s not over.’ We gave ourselves a chance. That’s all that was. We thought it was over, you know, but it is what it is.”

On Indiana’s need to stop believing in nightly miracles:

“We can’t depend on having to make hellacious shots for three minutes straight the rest of the series.”

Obi Toppin

On Indiana’s mindset:

“Unprecedented for other teams. But for us, we’re just going to keep playing until the buzzer, the last whistle and that’s what happened [Wednesday night]. I feel like we’re just super resilient. With us, you’ve gotta play until the last buzzer goes off. I feel like everybody on this team is going to work 110 percent every single game until the last buzzer. I feel like that’s what happened, I feel like they slowed down at the end and we just kept it going.”

On his key put-back dunk:

“Just being in the right place at the right time. We know if we win the rebounding battle against the Knicks we’ll be in good position to win. So I just try to crash and grab every rebound.”

Stan Van Gundy

On the attrocious Game 1 Knicks’ defense:

“If you wanted to put together a positive defensive edit to show your team, you would have a hard job trying to come up with 10 good defensive possessions where you really liked what you had.”

On the Knicks’ defensive failure on Wednesday:

“They’re going to boo their team. If that 14–0 [Knicks] run had been the other way early in the fourth quarter and the Knicks went down 16, they’re getting booed.”

On the Knicks till having room to fix their Game 1 defensive issues:

“It drives you nuts as a coach, but also players, coaches. I mean, that stuff’s correctable, stuff that needs to be taken care of.”

Stephen A. Smith

On the Knicks’ Game 1 collapse:

“Complete collapse, it was a choke job. That’s right, that’s what I’m calling it. We are going to see what they will do to respond. Because let me tell you something right now, they look like a team that don’t practice. That’s how they look.”

On his reaction while watching the game:

“Well, I was nauseous. It was a disgusting performance, and we are going to give this [Pepto-Bismol] an advertisement here because every Knick fan needed this. If I could down this like some Sprite, I would do it right now.”

Carmelo Anthony

On the Knicks’ preparation for Indiana:

“We weren’t designed to match up against Indiana. You get what I’m saying? Because you’re not thinking of Indiana, in a sense. You’re thinking Boston, we got to get Boston. We’ve got to beat Boston to get through this. So, you ain’t really thinking Indiana.”

On Indiana’s unpredictability:

“Indiana is so unorthodox. You don’t know what they’re going to do. Don’t know what Haliburton you’re going to get, you don’t know what Nembhard you’re going to get, you don’t know what Turner you’re going to get, you don’t know what Siakam you’re going to get. Like, that’s the scary part of it.”

On the danger of the series against the Pacers:

“That’s why the Indiana situation, that series, we’ve got to be very careful with that series. Because it can go– if Indiana comes and gets one on this court, we’re in an uphill battle. More so than we were against Boston.”