The Knicks have to stay focused, according to Clarkson.
The New York Knicks evened their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks with a dominant 114-98 win in Game 4 on Saturday night, and the mood inside the locker room afterward was anything but celebratory.
Jordan Clarkson had a warning for his teammates before they even started thinking about Tuesday's Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.
"We know they're going to come back and try to punch us in the mouth when we're at the crib," Clarkson said. "So we got to be ready."
That level of urgency is exactly what the Knicks needed to hear after finally putting together a complete performance against the Hawks following two straight one-point losses that nearly buried them in a 3-1 hole.
Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 20-point triple-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, OG Anunoby poured in 22 points and 10 boards, and the defense held Atlanta to just 41 percent shooting and 24 percent from three.
That effort had been missing in Games 2 and 3, when CJ McCollum went off and the Knicks couldn't find answers down the stretch.
Clarkson's growing role
Clarkson has quietly become one of the more important pieces off the Knicks' bench during this series.
Through four games he ranks seventh on the team in minutes and has logged roughly 38 combined minutes across Games 3 and 4, actually surpassing Mikal Bridges in second-half playing time in both contests.
His ability to create offense and bring defensive energy off the bench has given Mike Brown another option when lineups need a jolt, and the veteran guard has leaned into that responsibility.
But even after the blowout win, Clarkson was focused on what comes next rather than what the team accomplished in Game 4.
"You can't be satisfied with this performance," Clarkson said. "You can't go into Game 5 thinking, okay, we had a great game. They're going to lay down 'cause they're not. They're going to come out with tons of urgency and tons of physicality."
What Game 5 looks like
The Knicks' preparation heading into Game 4 was a clear turning point, and the challenge now is sustaining that level of play with the series shifting back to New York.
Madison Square Garden will be rocking on Tuesday, and the energy inside that building during the postseason is something no other arena can match.
But as Clarkson pointed out, home court only matters if the effort is there to match it.
The Hawks proved in Game 2 that they can steal one on the road, rallying from 12 down in the fourth quarter behind McCollum's 32-point explosion.
New York cannot afford a slow start or a mental letdown just because they evened the series.
Clarkson told the group what they needed to hear, bringing even more physicality and urgency than they did in Game 4, or Atlanta will make them pay.
Game 5 tips off Tuesday at 8 PM ET on Peacock and NBC.