NBA players are fond of being cool, of pretending not to care so much about things that fuel their fans. They like to talk about each game as if it’s just one of 82 — that one does not move them any more than another.

But even though it may be just a ripple in the ocean of the 2018-19 season, it’s fair to say Thursday’s visit by New York is different after what the then 4-14 Knicks did to the Celtics here on Thanksgiving Eve.

For the Bostonians, falling behind by 26 in the second quarter and getting booed off their own floor in a cosmetically altered, much-worse-than-it-looked 117-109 loss has sat decaying and malodorous on their mental mantel.

This meeting, therefore, just 15 days after the last, is feeling like something greater than just… one… game.

Maybe one and a half.

“Yeah, I’d put it that way,” said Al Horford with a bit of a smile after Wednesday’s practice. “I’d say we’re very motivated. Credit to them; they played better than us and they got us, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Looking back to the pre-Thanksgiving turkey, he added, “This season, in my opinion, that’s got to be our lowest point.

“We were mad at ourselves. Our fans come out and they expect us to at least have effort and be great, and we weren’t up to that standard at all. I wasn’t happy at all.”

The Celts have been more pleased with themselves of late, ripping off three straight wins and four out of five since that nasty night with the Knicks.

“I think that our identity is definitely forming a lot better than when we were playing against the Knicks that day, just in terms of our energy, our focus, our lineup, as well,” said Kyrie Irving. “And it’s just going out there and competing — and having fun doing so. It’s definitely a game that I definitely remember, so as a competitor, definitely I can’t wait to play.”

Sounds fairly definitive to me.

This, however, isn’t the usual type of revenge game. The Celtics aren’t as mad at the Knicks as they are bothered by themselves and looking to show a national television audience that they are not what they were then. To show the Knicks, too.

“It was our fault,” said Marcus Morris. “You know, we took it for granted. They came in and got a lot of confidence shooting the ball. You know, you give any NBA team confidence, that’s what’s going to happen. It’s up to us to take care of that and start from the tip knowing it’s not going to be that type of game again.

“I think we know what we need to do. Our mindset’s a lot different now. We know we’re a better team, and we’re just going to go out there and we’re going to show that we can play hard and not take it for granted. You know, they played well. I don’t think it’s bad blood or anything. I just think they played well and beat us. There wasn’t no extracurricular activity or extracurricular talk.”

So nothing personal, Knicks.

“That’s how we feel about, [expletive], a lot of teams that we’ve lost to this year, you know what I mean?” said Morris. “So now we’re just focused on ourself as a team to get better. But they’re definitely getting a different team than they got the last time we played them.”

Said Marcus Smart, “They came ready to play. We didn’t. It happens. You’ve just got to minimize those games as much as possible.

“But knowing the issue between the Knicks and the Celtics, New York and Boston and, you know, which Garden is the best, it’s definitely a little more intensified. And then the fact they beat us on our home court… So it’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a fun game. We’re ready.”

Most nettlesome of the Knicks that earlier night was Trey Burke, who stuck 29 points in the Celts’ mugs, making four of six 3-pointers. Alas, a knee issue is expected to keep him out of this rematch.

“That doesn’t make them less of a team because Trey’s out,” Smart said. “Trey’s a good friend of mine. He’s a great player. But they’re still good. They’re still going to come out and play us hard, and we can’t take them lightly because he’s out.”

If the Celtics do, they won’t respect themselves in the morning. They probably won’t even wait that long.

After the previous loss dropped them to 9-9, Brad Stevens said, “I just don’t know that we’re that good.”

A failure in this 1/82nd may not mean a whole lot if the ship is on course by next spring, but there is no question the Celtics would rather not let doubt back into their dressing room.