Nothing puts Knicks fans on edge like James Dolan stepping into the spotlight. Except maybe seeing their team get blown out by the Eastern Conference leaders.

Monday, Knicks fans had to suffer through both. Dolan made an appearance with WFAN’s Craig Carton and set the bar high for his team — Finals or bust — and said not to expect any big roster changes at the trade deadline. Here are a few of his comments, via Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

"We want to get to the Finals. And we should win the Finals. This is sports and anything can happen. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do."

"We love our team right now. They have chemistry, they all like each other. I've never seen a locker room more copacetic. There's a lot of energy there. Leon can always overrule me. But I don't see us making a big change. Because we got to keep building up this group. This group can win a championship. I believe that."

All that felt a little awkward a few hours later, after the East-leading Detroit Pistons easily handled the Knicks on Monday night, beating them 121-90 behind 29 from Cade Cunningham, who was easily the best player on the court. A January regular-season game is not a May playoff game, but this was the Knicks' fourth straight loss as the team has hit a slump. If nothing else, the timing of Dolan's comments felt odd.

In the interview, Dolan praised former coach Tom Thibodeau but said he was not collaborative or dedicated to player development the way a coach and team need to be in the modern NBA.

Dolan also spoke about the Knicks not hanging an NBA Cup banner, via Christian Arnold of The New York Post (the Knicks are 5-6 since winning the Cup in Las Vegas).

"We are going to raise the banner. We're going to raise the NBA championship banner. That's the banner we want to raise. We want an NBA championship, we don't want some consolation prize."

The Knicks are still the betting favorite to come out of the East at DraftKings and reach the NBA Finals (the Knicks are +290 to the Pistons' +400), living up to Dolan's prediction. The thing he said that should make Knicks fans happy was that team president Leon Rose "could overrule him" on player/personnel decisions (Dolan getting involved in roster decisions is the worst possible outcome).

Still, Dolan has spoken and set the bar high — exactly where most Knicks fans wanted it and believed it should be before the season tipped off. It's just always a little concerning when Dolan steps into the spotlight.