Not everyone is enamored of the crazily colored floors being used by NBA teams in the inaugural In-Season Tournament, but Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau says they at least let him know right away when those tournament games are taking place across the league.
The Knicks will play their third scheduled game in group play Friday night against the Heat on a mostly bright orange court at the Garden after they split their first two tournament games against the Bucks and the Wizards in East Group B.
“You know what, everyone seems to be excited about this [NBA] Cup and I think the players love it. I know the fans love it. It’s been great,” Thibodeau said after practice Wednesday in Tarrytown. “I think it pops. I know, like me, you’re watching games, you know it’s a Cup game. You can tell by the court.
“So I think that adds to it for the fans. I think it’s been good. We’ll see how the rest of it flows. But I think it’s been great for the league.”
While multiple teams already have advanced to the knockout stage, the Knicks probably need to win both of their remaining pool-play games against the Heat — who knocked them out of the playoffs last season — and the Hornets on Tuesday to move on and keep the chance of reaching the semifinals in Las Vegas in December alive.
“I think everyone is curious to see how it unfolds. I think it’s added intrigue and I think the players are excited about it. I know the fans are,” Thibodeau said. “Much like when the play-in tournament was first introduced [in 2020], there was hesitation and everyone saw the great value in it, and so I think it’s good for the league.
“We’ll see where it goes from here. This is just the first one, and it’s been exciting.”
Players on the winning side are slated to earn an additional $500,000 apiece, and Knicks guard Quentin Grimes — the lowest-paid member of the Knicks’ regular rotation at $2.4 million this season — admitted that is a motivating factor.
“Everybody always talks about the Cup and everything, but I feel like everybody’s really going out and playing for that money,” Grimes said. “We ain’t gonna sugarcoat it, everybody’s trying to go out there and play for that money.
“It definitely gives extra motivation to get in the tournament, be there in Vegas, and try to win the whole thing, for sure.”
Still, Knicks sixth man Immanuel Quickley typically downplayed the extra “juice” that is supposed to be attached to these games.
“I’ll say the same thing: I’ve been showing up to the games and the court will be different, and I won’t even know it’s the In-Season Tournament,” Quickley said. “You prepare for every game the same way, go out and give your best effort, come prepared, and you just know everything is gonna be straight.
“I try to focus on the process, not really the result. I know a lot of people get caught up in the result but through an 82-game schedule, you can’t really be results based. So you’ve gotta be process based, and doing the right things each and every day that give you a chance to have good results.”
Quickley added that he hadn’t seen a photo of the orange court that will be used in Friday’s game against Jimmy Butler and the Heat.
Miami won each of its first two games in the tournament, matching Milwaukee’s 2-0 start in group play.
The Bucks also will play their next tournament game at home Friday against the Wizards before facing the Heat next week.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers and the Pacers became the first teams to advance to the knockout stage.
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