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So the Knicks lost to the Pistons on Thursday night and yeah it was ugly but honestly the story
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of this game wasn't even about the final score, it was about PJ Tucker who finally got real rotation
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minutes for the first time all season and wasted no time sending a message to this Knicks team
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Because when asked about what went wrong in that fourth quarter, PJ kept it as real as it gets
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quote, they just out-toughed us, they did, the whole fourth quarter. And listen, coming from PJ
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Tucker that hits different. This is a dude who's built his entire career on toughness
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physicality and doing the dirty work that nobody else wants to do. And after playing 27 minutes last
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night, his most all year, in what was basically a rock fight against Detroit, PJ saw exactly what
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the problem was. The Knicks just got outworked and he didn't stop there either. PJ went on to say
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quote, I just feel like down in the trenches like that in the playoffs this year, they're not calling
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nothing. They're letting a lot of stuff go right now and I like it. The refs are letting a lot of
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stuff go both ways. With that happening, guys gotta play differently. We gotta play different
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We gotta toughen up. It's more physical. We gotta toughen up. And that's exactly the kind of message
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this team needs to hear. Now to be fair, the Knicks were missing two of their toughest players
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in Josh Hart and OG Ananobi, along with Mitchell Robinson, who both rested for this game. And
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and they expected to potentially be back tonight against the Cavaliers that obviously makes a huge difference But what PJ is talking about here goes beyond just having Hart and OG in the lineup This is about mindset
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this is about understanding that in the playoffs and in these physical grinded out type of games
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down the stretch, talent isn't always enough. It's about effort, it's about 50-50 balls
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it's about boxing out, it's about playing through contact when the whistle is not coming
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And PJ Tucker, he lives for that stuff. He even talked about how it felt to finally get back out
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there after sitting on the bench for basically the entire season. He said, quote, the plays like that
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the box outs, the 50-50 balls, that stuff is that feeling. Getting offensive rebounds, it's like
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yeah, I'm back. It felt good. It's honestly wild that Tucker hadn't scored in a regular season
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game in exactly a year. And then in typical PJ Tucker fashion, his first bucket back was a corner
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3. Classic. Now is PJ Tucker suddenly part of the Knicks playoff rotation? Probably not
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there's no guarantee that he even sees the court again once the team is healthy
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But this little stretch right here, it mattered, because in a game where the Knicks were missing
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their identity guys, PJ Tucker stepped in and reminded everybody what winning basketball looks
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like at this time of the year. Toughness, effort, physicality, that's the blueprint
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and for the Knicks with the playoffs right around the corner, that's exactly the mentality they're
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gonna need. But if you did enjoy this video, make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the
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channel for more next news and updates you won't want to miss. It's been KNYT here and I'll see you
