Former Rangers coach John Tortorella talks ‘stupid things’ in NBA, NHL Finals
It’s been more than a decade since John Tortorella coached the New York Rangers. But like any good New Yorker, even an honorary one born and raised in Massachusetts, he’s caught up in Knicks fever this spring.
And the current Vegas Golden Knights coach admitted Thursday that he couldn’t turn away from the Knicks’ historic comeback in their 107-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the NBA Finals that gripped both New York and the nation Wednesday night.
Tortorella, who coached the Rangers from 2009-13 and is the mentor of their current coach Mike Sullivan, was hired by the Golden Knights on March 29 and has them in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in their nine-season history.
Vegas led that best-of-7 series against the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1, but lost the past two games and returns home for a must-win Game 6 on Sunday, now trailing 3-2 after a 4-2 road defeat in Raleigh on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are one win away from their first NBA championship since 1973, after rallying from 29 points down for their second one-point win of these NBA Finals — capped by OG Anunoby’s dramatic putback with 1.2 seconds left. Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio at 8:30 p.m. ET.
John Tortorella keeping up with Knicks run
Tortorella is famously prickly. He has ground rules about what he will and won’t talk to the media about, which traditionally includes opposing players or topics outside of his team.
Rangers fans will remember his run-ins with the late New York Post hockey beat writer Larry Brooks, among other reporters. Some might also remember him not speaking at all to the media in the waning days of his tenure as Rangers coach.
So the idea of Tortorella discussing basketball of all subjects when his team is two wins from winning the Stanley Cup — and on a game day! — sounds preposterous. But it actually happened.
When prompted by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman — an NHL insider and former Toronto Raptors reporter — Tortorella couldn’t help but engage about the Knicks’ epic second half comeback victory, the largest in NBA Finals history, during his media availability Thursday morning. He also used it as an opportunity to compare that outcome to the see-saw series his team is going through.
“I wanted to go to bed,” Tortorella said. “But when [the Knicks] cut [the lead] to 15, you knew something stupid was going to happen. I’m basically saying that the same stupid stuff is happening in our series.”
The Knicks trailed by 29 points in the first half, and were down 76-49 at halftime before outscoring San Antonio 58-30 in the final 24 minutes. It was the Knicks’ third win in the series after trailing by double digits, which to Tortorella’s point, mirrors this wild Cup Final, where there have been a slew of multiple comebacks on each side.
John Tortorella shows empathy to Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox after fateful Game 4 decision
Tortorella, like the rest of the nation, may be gripped by Knicks fever. But his coaching side showed through when Friedman asked about Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox’s massive gaffe in the waning seconds of the Knicks’ win.
The Spurs led by one, 106-105, with 10 seconds left when Fox grabbed a rebound after Jalen Brunson’s wild missed layup. Fox dribbled into the front court and hastily attempted a layup, instead of killing time by pulling the ball back. Anunoby blocked the shot, the Knicks grabbed the loose ball and called timeout, giving them one last chance to win it.
Which the Knicks did, when Anunoby skied high in the air to tip in Brunson’s long three-point miss after the inbounds pass.
“I forget the basketball player’s name [Fox] but he’s probably a very intelligent player,” Tortorella said. “I think the intensity and just the moment that’s going on in the Finals now. They’re human beings and it just overcomes you sometimes to do some stupid things.
“Who can explain some of the things that’s gone on in this series? One thing as a coach you look for, as long as they care, as long as they’re trying, that’s all you can ask, and there will be some crazy things that go along with it.”
