New York is four games away from reaching the biggest NBA stage.

EASTERN.

CONFERENCE.

FINALISTS.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Celtics and Game 6 performance:

“We knew we would have to play 48 minutes against them. They’re terrific on both sides of the ball… They’re not going to hand you anything, you have to earn it and I felt that we did that.”

On game-to-game mentality and adapting to the situation:

“No, you’ve got to win games different ways. Every game is different. There’s really no carry over from one game to the next.”

On Josh Hart’s impact:

“People get stuck on ‘you didn’t shoot the ball’ or ‘you didn’t do this’ but Josh, what he is is a basketball player. It’s transition, it’s the pace, it’s playing out of the pocket.”

On the Pacers matchup:

“They’re an excellent basketball team. Strong on both sides of the ball, their ability to push the ball to defensive transition… You’ve got to be very disciplined in your approach.”

On the Knicks’ mindset before Game 6:

“That’s what the playoffs are. There’s a lot of emotional highs and lows and you’ve got to deal with those things and I think it’s important to be disciplined. I think the discipline gets you past any distractions. Got to play with toughness. Each game you got to reset. What is going to go into winning that game? So there’s no carryover from previous game. Just lock into what’s in front of you. You have to give maximum effort but you also need maximum concentration. And you have to remain disciplined and play with toughness and aggression, and that’s what playoffs is all about.”

On the Knicks’ Game 6 dominance:

“We knew we’d have to play 48 minutes against them. They’re terrific on both sides of the ball. They play their style no matter what. They’re not going to hand you anything. You have to earn it, and I thought we did that.”

On the Knicks’ long-term playoff goals:

“The goal is always to win a championship. We’ve got eight wins. You need 16. And each one gets harder and harder, so you’ve got to keep fighting. And you’ve got to understand how important that is.”

On the mindset heading into the ecf:

“It’s how you respond to the challenge that’s in front of you. We can’t get carried away. Obviously, it’s a great win, and we advance, and you look at that, but you also understand that you have to get ready for the next series. We know Indiana is a terrific team, and we’re going to have to be ready.”

On Miles McBride’s role:

“He doesn’t shoot well every game. Nobody does. Just keep playing, trust your game, the work you put in. Defensively, the ball pressure is terrific. He plays fast and you can go on runs with him. And be a catalyst. That’s what he does for us. Picks up full-court. If you’re open, shoot. If you’re guarded well, make a play for somebody else.”

Josh Hart

On facing the Pacers again:

“It’s going to be a tough opponent… We can build off this game. I feel like our defensive transition, our communication was great today.”

On learning from Game 5 loss:

“No, you don’t flush it. You learn from it. You go watch film, you see where we messed up, and there were a lot of mess-ups in terms of communication and execution. So you don’t flush it. You watch it, you learn from it and you get better next game.”

Deuce McBride

On the playoffs being an entirely different beast:

“It’s not about what you do in the regular season all the time. At the end of the day, it’s what you do in April, May and June.”

On the Knicks leaders and believing:

“We have a lot of great leaders in this locker room, a lot of guys that have been through Finals, won championships. We all felt like we have a chance to do something special. We all felt like it was time.”

On the last time the Knicks make the ECF:

“I don’t even know if I was alive.”

On the MSG crowd in Game 6:

“I felt like they gave us energy, a lot of energy tonight.”

Jalen Brunson

On Game 6 performance:

“I feel like we played 48 minutes tonight. Just the way we competed and communicated, definitely one of the better performances. I feel like we have a long way to go. Just the confidence we have in each other and everything. Just knowing who we are. We have to be unsatisfied.”

On rebounding from Game 5:

“Just the way, the whole day of Game 5, it just wasn’t us. And we knew that, we reflected on it, and we came back and we said we need to be ready, we need to be better. The way we prepared, the way we talked out there, the way we made it an emphasis to have each other’s back and to continue to cover for each other. It’s focused on the defensive side of the ball, and when we’re doing that and offense, we’re flowing. So we’ve just gotta focus on the little things, and we did that.”

On whether the series win over Boston felt like an upset: “Upset or not, whatever it is, we beat a great team. They obviously lost a huge piece but regardless the way they came out in Game 5, they’re still a great team.”

On the team’s confidence after Game 6:

“The way we competed and communicated out there, it’s definitely one of our better performances. But I still feel like we have a long way to go. This confidence we have in each other and everything, just being where we are … we’re going to continue to be unsatisfied.”

On Stephen A. Smith picking the Celtics:

“‘I have nothing to say to you.’”

OG Anunoby

On adjustments after Game 5:

“Just watching the film and responding to it, not being happy with it and making it an emphasis to just coming out with a lot of energy, flying around. Just correct what we saw on film and maintain it for the whole game.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On the team never losing their belief:

“As long as we believe in each other, we can do something special. And as long as the belief in that locker room is that, we don’t care what anyone outside that locker room says.”

On the Knicks’ resilience:

“When you’re in these situations, especially in the playoffs, you gotta — you know, we talk about that, that New York grit, that relentless belief that we will never lose. When you want to go deeper into the playoffs, you have to have that, and we showed it this series. And I think that was really special for us. … This team has tremendous belief in each other, and we believe that any time we step on the court, we have a chance to win.”

On the Knicks’ championship hopes:

“We believe that we can do something special.”

To Stephen A. Smith:

“You picked the wrong team.”

Mikal Bridges

On the Knicks fans firing the team up:

“I think Josh showed me a video walking here of a guy climbing up a light post. Yeah it’s crazy man but yeah, great for them, happy for them. Obviously I’m new here but I just know how much New York loves their sports, especially the Knicks, so just all excited to be a part of it. They’re enjoying it now for us, but we have way more to go.”

On the Knicks’ mentality heading into the Pacers series:

“Yeah, there’s more to go. We’re not done. That’s what it is. We came out there tonight to play hard and handle business, but our season’s not over. We’ve got so much more to go and we play on Wednesday so get ready to prepare for them. Whole different team and a whole new series.”

On the mindset entering the ECF:

“More to go, you know? We’re not done. And that’s what it is. We came out there tonight, played hard, handled biz. But season’s not over. We got so much more to go.”

Joe Mazzulla

On the Knicks series win:

“You’ve got to tip your hats off to the Knicks. They played a great series. They’ve been great all year. Thibs is a great coach.”

On Tom Thibodeau’s chops:

“That guy’s a lifer, man. He’s everything a coach is all about and he deserves it.”

On falling short of the championship goal:

“There’s a perspective at the end of the day, we set a goal out, we didn’t achieve that goal. But (that) shouldn’t take away from the mindset and the effort that the players put in. We have a responsibility and an ownership, we didn’t do it, but the approach, the process to it, you can’t ask for any more from the guys. … This is the price you pay for trying to go after something, and that’s how it goes.”

On the team’s growth:

“I didn’t see anything different. I saw something better throughout the season. Everybody had the right mindset and the right process towards going after it. We just ran into a great team in the second round. They got the best of us.”

On fatigue and performance in Game 6:

“Obviously I saw [fatigue] tonight a little bit, but I didn’t see that throughout the season, I didn’t see that throughout the series. They outplayed us. They played better.”

On playoff expectations vs. the Knicks:

“One thing that you anticipate is that you’re going to get the Knicks’ absolute best game. You have to be able to dictate the environment, minimize [bad plays] and maximize the plays we need to make through our execution and our toughness. They’re obviously going to fight better than they did last game, and we need to find ways to do that as well.”

On navigating highs and lows:

“If you’re coaching for a long time, you’re going to have a lot more heartbreaks than joyful moments.”

Jaylen Brown

On losing to the Knicks:

“Losing to the Knicks feels like death, but I was always taught that there’s life after death, so we’ll get ready for whatever’s next. Whatever’s next in the journey, I’ll be ready for.”

On falling early:

“It just wasn’t our year.”

On his message to Boston fans after imploding in the playoffs:

“I know, Boston, it looks gloomy right now, obviously with JT being down, and us ending the year, but it’s a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.”

On the mixed emotions after the Game 6 loss:

“It hurt to see the emotions of all the guys, being a leader, not being able to carry everybody to the promise land. It sucks, but it just wasn’t our year.”

On the Celtics’ effort in Game 6:

“I’m proud of our guys, they came out and fought.”

Kristaps Porzingis

On the Game 6 performance and team struggles:

“Extremely tough night for us. Felt like nothing was going our way and just the game was easy for them. Many things that just were not we’re not clicking for us. From the beginning, they just created that lead. We didn’t really have good moments in the game to kind of get back there. It was just a tough night. Tough way to end on this night.”

On playing without Tatum:

“Especially with [Jayson Tatum] going out, just not being too much of a help just hurts deep inside here. It really sucks. It really really sucks.”

On the Knicks fans and New York City:

“The support from the Knicks fans was through the roof tonight and all throughout the playoffs. Unbelievable fans, unbelievable city and there’s a side of me that’s very very happy for them.”

Derrick White

On the early struggles in Game 6 killing any chance of a Celtics comeback:

“It seemed like it went left pretty quick.”