Interview: McMillan on the Knicks

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan spoke with the media following Tuesday’s practice at the team’s workout facility in Tualatin, Ore.

McMillan on facing the New York Knicks:

What you don’t want to do is start to get complacent. We want to finish strong. Get ourselves into the playoffs.

On preparing for the Knicks:

Well, I think you can get caught up in, you don’t see the stars and you kind of just go through the motions, and you can’t do that. This is a mental game. For us, we need to come out and take care of business, and be just as fired up as were against these last two teams that we played. We need to play well as a group. Sometimes players think, ‘Well, they may not need me as much.’ Or one of those situations where, this is a game where I can (take) off, and you play the game the wrong way. So, you play the game the right way. You come out focused; execute on both ends of the floor for 48 minutes.

On the Knicks’ game plan:

They’re shooting a ton of 3(-pointers). The system’s still the same. The players have changed a little, but the system is still the same. They want to force your defense to suck in, and then they want to jack up 3s. They will trade a 3-point ball for a 2.