NBA Notes: Thunder, Knicks, Jalen Brunson, Pacers, Myles Turner

Thunder

Mark Daignaeult is your 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year, but indicated he’s not completely relaxed about winning the award.

“It’s a little uncomfortable because you just see all the different people whose fingerprints are on the final product, starting with the players, but we have a robust organization,” the Thunder coach told NBA reporters, via Joel Lorenzi of the Oklahoman.

• Big man Chet Holmgren showed respect to Daigneault. “Shoutout to Mark man. Helluva coach,” Holmgren said, via Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire. “He puts together some crazy X’s and O’s. Puts us all in position to be successful.”
• Holmgren added: “He’s not that much older than us. He’s one of the bros. There’s still an extreme level of respect there professionally… We got great guys in the locker room who want to be better.”

Knicks

The crowd in Philadelphia loudly supported Jalen Brunson and the Knicks down the stretch of Game 4, something Brunson suggested he appreciated. Brunson scored 47 points as the Knicks took a 3-1 series lead.

“The Philadelphia fanbase is, I said this before, they’re very relentless and very passionate. I mean, I’m an Eagles fan, I would know,” Brunson told NBA reporters. “But seeing the Knicks here and hearing the Knicks here, it was pretty cool and it’s awesome.”

• The Knicks can close out the series Tuesday night in New York and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for a second straight year.
• The Knicks played Game 4 without center Mitchell Robinson who sat with a sprained left ankle. They also lost reserve swingman Bojan Bogdanovic to a bruised left ankle after Nicolas Batum fell on him chasing a loose ball. Bogdanovic barely played one minute before the injury.

Pacers

The Pacers hit a franchise record 22 3-pointers in Sunday’s win over the Bucks, giving them a 3-1 series lead. Center Myles Turner suggested Indiana just went back to what worked for it during the regular season after losing Game 1.

“After that first game, we watched a lot of film and I saw some of the holes in the defense and realized there were open shots we could exploit,” Turner told NBA reporters. “A lot of it is read and react, which is pretty much what our whole offense is.”

• Turner has played some of the basketball of his career in the series, finishing 7-of-9 on threes in Game 4. Fans chanted his name to show appreciation. “I didn’t realize when I hit the 3 they were chanting my name. I saw it afterward,” he said. “But it was very special, knowing how much this city means to me and with my family here, it was very special.”