In the wake of the New York Knicks' 125-108 loss to the Indiana Pacers, head coach Tom Thibodeau delivered a poignant message to the team. According to SNY, Thibodeau said to the press, "There's disappointment because you fall short of what your goal is." The goal will eventually be achieved by just one squad. In other words, in my opinion, our challenge is to recognize it for what it is.

"We finished in the top three, but we're falling short of the ultimate goal," Thibodeau continued after the Game 6 defeat in Indiana. As a result, we should use that as motivation and push ourselves to get better all summer long so that we are prepared to take the final step and accomplish our goal. I think that's how we should see it and deal with it.

After winning Game 5 at home, the Knicks were beaten by the Pacers 3-1 going into Saturday night's matchup. The Pacers increased their lead over the Knicks by outscoring them 34–23 in the third quarter following a close first half. After that, they maintained the lead throughout the fourth quarter and went on to win a trip to the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I'm very happy with what these men accomplished.

Thibodeau has led the Knicks for the previous five campaigns. He led New York to the conference semifinals in 2022–2023 and 2023–2024. For the first time in 25 years, the franchise reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

"It's progress from last year, but at the end of the day, it's not what we're aiming for," Thibodeau said in a post-game interview.

"We didn't close the half well," he told reporters. I reasoned right before the break that they sort of had that explosion that also set the mood for the start of the third. They entered the open floor, which was the problem. It was tough to catch up.

The Knicks committed 17 turnovers during those giveaways, and the Pacers scored 34 points.

"And that also put them into the open floor," Thibodeau added, explaining that it was partly their ball pressure and partially our fault. Consequently, I thought it was a significant problem.

Thibodeau also spoke about how difficult it was to deal with Pascal Siakam of Indiana, who went on to score a game-high 31 points in Game 6 and take home the MVP title for the Eastern Conference Finals. "He's a very talented player, he played a terrific series," Thibodeau remarked. "I think the versatility, his ability to run the floor, his ability to play in the paint, his ability to face the basket, to put it on the floor. He is well protected. Furthermore, you may sometimes play him well, and because of his size and release, he is able to get the shot up, which is always a plus. Let's give him a hat tip. He had a really successful run.

"I'm proud of what these guys did," Thibodeau said. "There was a lot that we had to get through and I thought we handled that part well. … There were a lot of moving parts but they kept fighting and moving forward and I've got great respect for that."

“The playoffs are hard fought, and these contests can go either way; frequently, they are one-possession games. … The sadness of missing the ultimate goal, but also proud of what we were able to accomplish because we still had to win games with guys out,” he said.

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