Knicks 94, Spurs 90
Q. What do you hope the team will take or be fueled by listening to the celebration going on on your home floor? What do you hope the team will take from the entire season in total?
DEVIN VASSELL: I think we had a great season. We proved a lot of people wrong. Our goal was to win, obviously. We don't want a participation trophy to where we just got here; we wanted to win.
Credit to them, to their team, their coaching staff. Great team. Felt like there's a lot of stuff that we could have controlled to finish off games, to execute the game plan better.
It's tough. It hurts a lot. It stings a lot. Hearing that right now, seeing them storming the court on our home court, it's tough. It's tough.
We know we'll do everything we can, scratch, fight to get back into this position and have a different outcome. But right now it's tough.
Q. You mentioned this hurts. How do you think this changes you as a player moving forward? There's a lot of saddened Spurs fans right now. What is your message to them?
DEVIN VASSELL: First off to the fans, just thank you guys so much for supporting us, especially in my journey being here six years, from where we started from the 20 wins we were at to being in the Finals. They've been loyal. I just want to say thank you to them. Without them and the noise, having our backs, we're not in this situation, we're not in this position. Thank you to them.
I think with these games in the Finals, it just shows that every possession matters and every little detail matters. You can mess up some stuff in the regular season and still kind of get away with it. Obviously in the Finals, with everything being amplified, one mistake can cost you a game. I think we had a couple that cost us multiple.
Q. As you guys begin to process these emotions over the next few days, think back to the way you've stuck together, what do you make of the way that Dylan and Carter have played this season?
DEVIN VASSELL: Tremendously proud of both of them. Starting with Carter, him not getting minutes at the beginning of the season, to going to the G League, to come out here and changing games and making the impact, just trusting the process. He's going to be a special player. I know how hard he works. So he's going to be a really, really, really good defensive player, offensive player, a really good two-way player.
Dylan, I think we all knew he was talented. I don't know if anybody knew he was that talented probably besides himself. He was upset with playing time and different roles he was in. When we needed him most, he stepped up. We have a star in the making. I know he's going to put so much work into the offseason. Not just offensively, but defensively he's made a lot of plays. He's grown so much. What is he, 20, 21 years old? The sky's the limit for him. Just really proud of our rookies. They stepped up. And their number to be called in the NBA Finals shows the growth and the trust that the coaches have in them.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports