If you cannot wait for Game 3, you’re not alone. Shout-out the new ‘Nova Pope!

The Knicks are trending up.

The Celtics are trending down.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and many other folks (not the Pope) have said in the past few hours.

Tom Thibodeau

On Mitchell Robinson’s role and in-game decision-making:

“He has a great impact when he’s on the floor. The fouls can get us into the bonus earlier, so we can take advantage of it that way. It also allows us to set our defense so there is some advantages to that as well. When you look at points per possession, that’s what you are looking at.

“You have to make decisions based on what’s going on in the game, how well is he shooting them and things of that nature and then are you going to sub?”

On Boston’s shot quality:

“It’s hard to say, I want to look at the film, look at the quality of their shots. They have a style of play, I think they do a terrific job, they’re strong on both sides of the ball. You give them open shots, they’re going to make them. You give them a second crack at it, they’re going to make you pay.”

On Josh Hart’s offensive value and taking advantage of double-teams:

“He’s worked a lot on his shooting. You leave him open, he’s not hesitating. Just let it fly. I think that’s huge for us, particularly when they overcommit, you gotta trust the pass, trust each other, trust your teammates and you’re going to have an advantage on the backside. Anytime you put two on the ball, there’s advantages in another area.

“Karl gets double-teamed all the time. Jalen gets double-teamed all the time, so just trust each other, make the right play and usually the second pass against the blitz or the double-team in the post gets you a high quality shot.”

On Josh Hart’s skill set and toolkit:

“I think you saw a variety of the way he scored. The transition and the takes are his strengths and he plays a lot bigger than his size, so the rebounding and also the finishing ability inside.”

On OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges’ impact and their defensive versatility:

“I think a premium is put on long wings in the league. And versatility. So guys that can guard two, three, four and even point guards, as well. We obviously felt that they were good players and they could make us better. And I think the length at that position, the wing position, is huge. You’re asking guys, particularly the five out, to get in protect the paint and also to get out and cover the line. And then when the ball gets shot, to also rebound. So I think the length is very important. And just having the versatility to play the two, three and four, but it also allows you to do a lot more switching.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s defensive discipline:

“He’s got great feet and anticipation. Not only his defense, but he’s very disciplined — learning how to become the second jumper. I think all those things helped eliminate the reckless fouls. He’s a hard guy to score over. Even if you score over him, it’s going to be a tough shot. I think he’s learned that. He doesn’t back down and more and those cheap fouls are gone.”

Josh Hart

On hack-a-Mitch situations and defensive value:

“If they’re going to do that, let them do that. We’ll get stops. He’s so important to us defensively. Even if he makes one out of two, if we get five stops in a row and they foul him five times in a row and he makes five free throws, then we’re a plus-5. We got faith in him on both sides of the court.”

On the Celtics falling apart and defensive approach:

“To be realistic, that doesn’t come to mind. Our biggest thing is, especially when you’re going on a run, is ‘all right, let’s get a stop.’ We get a stop, ‘let’s get another stop.’ We got guys that can score the ball. We’re down that much, we’re thinking about ‘let’s get this down to a one-possession game towards the end of the game.’ I feel like our defensive intensity picked up in the fourth quarter. Now we have to learn from it and Saturday, put together a full game.”

On the Knicks still seeking consistency:

“I don’t think we even know what we’re capable of. We have to continue to build. We have to continue to put together a full game. I think that’s something that we haven’t done during the course of these playoffs. We get leads. We surrender leads. We come back from big leads. We’ve got to figure out a complete game and that can answer some of those questions. But for us, it’s just about continuing to get better and figure out how to put together a 48-minute game.”

On OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges:

“I think it’s been huge. Give OG a tremendous amount of credit, played huge for us last game, really carried us offensively last game along with [Jalen Brunson]. And ‘Kal, you really can’t say enough about his toughness and grit and mentality. He had 14 points, I think he went into the fourth with no points. And fourth quarter he made huge plays for us offensively to keep us in the game. Defensively, he has the ability to change the whole course of a game. You give him credit, even when his shots not falling he’s making huge plays.”

Mitchell Robinson

On his playoff free throw struggles:

“It’s my own fault. I gotta get back to what I know. When I came back, I was knocking ‘em down, then started to get away from it. Just gotta lock in.”

Jalen Brunson

On his relationship with Thibodeau:

“I was always thinking about the NBA, since I was a kid. But my relationship with [Thibodeau] was primarily my dad and his relationship. When I saw him, he always said what’s up, always had words of wisdom to say. It was always about working hard and being prepared and all the stuff you hear now. And so, being young and hearing that and coming here and seeing that he’s the same person, it’s all about the hard work you put into stuff. What makes you prepare to be successful, I feel like I heard that all the time. So when I hear it now, I know what he’s about. Our relationship, it’s great because I got to see him from afar. And I knew him. And being a player in his system I feel like I have a little advantage just knowing his mindset. I would say we have a good relationship. It could be better. It’s on his part though.”

On Bridges’ adjustment period:

“It’s always a transition period. In the world we live in now — not even just basketball, but the world — you want everything now. Everything is accessible as soon as possible, so when you come to a new team or when you join something new, they want results right away. It takes time for things to develop and things to gel.”

On team unity:

“It’s all about the process and the journey of it all. Just making sure we’re going through things together.”

OG Anunoby

On the Knicks’ inconsistency and confidence:

“I think we haven’t played as well as we can. We don’t want to be playing from behind, being down, coming back. We would rather be up. But that’s been the situation we’re in. [We’re] confident.”

On team mentality after Game 2:

“[We were] just excited, happy we won. But we still have to go back, watch the film and get better because I don’t think we played as well as we can.”

Mikal Bridges

On team trust and confidence during comebacks:

“I think we’re just confident, confident knowing we’re just always gonna find a way. A lot of us sitting on the bench while we’re down just like, ‘We’ve been here before.’ … You can look in everybody’s eyes and it’s kinda not a stressed look. It’s kinda like a confident look, knowing ‘Alright, let’s see how much time is left and just take it one play at a time.’”

On support from teammates and coaches:

“It’s really, truly been them just holding me together and keeping me mentally right and just telling me to keep going. And I think coach [Tom Thibodeau] also is just trusting me — coming out in the fourth, running a play for me, putting that confidence in me. But man, it’s really my teammates and my coaches, man. They really held me up.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On Bridges’ playoff emergence:

“It’s only right that all talk that people have done about Mikal, when the lights are the brightest, he gets to show his work.”

On Mitchell Robinson:

“Isn’t Mitch just the coolest guy in the world? Mitch is so cool. I need a truck like his.”

Joe Mazzulla

On Tatum’s accountability and team responsibility:

“I appreciate the fact that he would [take ownership of the losses], but I think it’s on everybody. We all could be better. I could be better in the things that I can help our team execute, our entire team could be better. And yeah, he can too. So, just as he is taking responsibility for that, I expect him to be better.”

Jayson Tatum

On personal accountability:

“I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series. I can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better. And I expect to be a lot better.”

On the final play in Game 2:

“I just made the wrong read. Went into a crowded area. Obviously, if I had that opportunity again, or the next time it presented itself, it’d have a different outcome.”

Jaylen Brown

On the Celtics’ resolve:

“We’ve got a great group that has stayed together through it all. So these are the moments where we need to show our resiliency, we need to show our mental toughness because we can get back in this thing, no question.”

Brian Windhorst

On Boston’s collapses and Knicks’ poise:

“They [Celtics] don’t really understand, they can’t really put their finger on what happened. They’re a little bit shell-shocked because these leads have just melted away from them.”

“Down the stretch of this game, the Knicks were the most poised team. When I went to the Knicks locker-room, one of the things that they were talking about was just how comfortable they are in that position…”

“Normally, you would be the underdog and you’d be down on the road and you’d be panicking. It’s the inverse. I’m not sure it’s going to continue, but it’s a situation and a feeling I’ve not seen before.”

Kendrick Perkins

On the MSG crowd and Celtics’ outlook:

“Do you realize how rocking the Madison Square Garden is gonna be? The Celtics are done. They’re not coming back in this series. I have all the trust and faith in the New York Knicks.”

“The Celtics would be lucky to get one game.”

On legacy pressure for Boston’s stars:

“You were up 20 points twice at the crib and blew it. Yes, this is a legacy-defining moment for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.”