Former Knicks coach and current ABC/ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy takes a timeout from Finals coverage for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: Aside from the turnovers and boards, how can the Cavaliers win this series?

A: The 3-point shot is such a weapon, and yet you still have to take care of the paint first. And they gave up layup after layup, dunk after dunk, and really Golden State should have probably won by 30-plus, because they missed a ton of point blank layups. So Cleveland’s gonna have to sometimes live with some 3s because you have to take away the basket.

Q: What one adjustment would you make from a Cleveland standpoint?

A: It would be the mentality right now. Pat Riley used to say, “You give a team respect by giving them no respect at all. And you go at ’em.” And I thought early in the first quarter they did go at ’em, and then I thought their persistence and their grit waned as the game progressed, and all of this talk about — I think they’re even feeding into it — how tough a task they have, and this could be the best team ever that they’re going against — that doesn’t put you in the right mindset to compete against a great team.

Q: Are you talking about the Riley Knicks’ approach when it comes to slowing them down?

A: I think their best defense will be their offense. And what I mean by that is you have to take care of the ball so you don’t ignite their transition game. … You have to take the right shots, play at the right pace — Cleveland doesn’t want it to be a frenetic up-and-down game. They’ve gotta create second shots, and they’ve gotta get to the free-throw line. … Cleveland’s gotta ratchet up their level of physicality, ’cause I thought Golden State was the more physical team.

Q: How do they slow down Stephen Curry?

A: Curry’s 3s, a lot of ’em are coming in transition, right? He is the greatest shooter off the dribble that I have ever seen. And so your pickup point in transition against him has to be higher. And he’s so crafty with the ball, and he’s such a good layup maker that when you have to pick him up higher, it exposes you to more dribble penetration opportunity. It’s a tough cover. They gotta make the court look crowded with defenders. They can’t be hugging their own men on the weak side and leaving whoever is guarding Curry in transition on an island. These are challenges that are very difficult, but you have to convince yourself as a team and as an individual that it can be done.

Q: Does Kevin Durant remind you of anybody you’ve seen?

A: No, he’s a specimen unto itself. His ability and skill level at 7 feet is incredible — like the passing, the dribbling, the ability to create separation. And then, he’s got that such high real release, you can’t impact his shot at all. But his game off the dribble, and his passing game off the dribble when he brings that second defender to him has improved so much. I think it goes right back to his love of the game and his willingness to work to continue to strive and get better. He scores as easily as anyone in the NBA, from all different levels of the floor,

Q: He doesn’t look like a guy who feels pressure to win a ring, does he?

A: I think he’s at a place that he understands other people are gonna judge him by certain benchmarks. But he’s going to judge himself by how hard he competes, and how well he competes. Then you have to understand that a lot of winning championships in this league is who you play against, who you play with and how healthy you are. I won’t think of him any differently if he wins this year. I already thought he was a great player, joined up with other great players. They should win the championship.

Q: The cameras showed LeBron James in the tunnel turning around to slap hands with teammates coming off the floor after Game 1. What do you think he has been telling them?

A: As you get older in the game, if you’re as bright as James is about the game, you understand as a great player you have to lift the other guys up. You have no chance at this level to win championships on your own. Not one guy played as well as they need to for Cleveland to have a chance to win this series. And so, they got beat by 15 last year in Game 1, by 33 in Game 2. I’m sure he’s reminding them that things can change, and change quickly. But this is a different animal, this Golden State team. Because of Durant, they are just so much better. This is a dynasty in the making.

Q: Do you still think the Cavs have a 20 percent chance to win this series?

A: I give them that much chance because I have that much respect for their coaching staff, for LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. I just think like they have a lot of greatness in them. I just don’t think they have nearly as much firepower. I don’t think they’re as fast, as long, as big, nor are they as versatile.

Q: Is there any way this series can go seven games?

A: The question that I posed to Mark [Jackson] and Mike [Breen] was: “Would you be more surprised at a sweep by the Warriors, or the Warriors getting pushed to seven?” I think they both would be more surprised by a sweep. I’m not sure where I stand on that question. I didn’t see the Warriors being challenged and pushed to a Game 6 or 7 in any series before the playoffs. Nothing I’ve seen has changed my mind. I think this is a five-game series.

Q: If the Warriors sweep, where would they rank in history?

A: Well, there’s been some obviously great, great teams — [Michael] Jordan Bulls dynasty, the Bad Boys Pistons, the Showtime Lakers, the Celtics, Philadelphia back in the ’80s, the Knicks in the ’70s … on and on, right? But for a team to run the table in the playoffs would be an absolutely historic feat, and they would have to be considered as one of the great teams of all time.

Q: Who are coaches in other sports you admire?

A: [Bill] Parcells … [Bill] Belichick … [Tom] Coughlin … Gary Kubiak … Bill O’ Brien … Buck Showalter … [Peter] Laviolette. I can go on and on, I have such great respect for coaches.

Q: You went to Hofstra to visit Parcells when you coached the Knicks.

A: He had invited me out. Coach Belichick was there as well. It was one of the great experiences I’ve had in my life. Everything from watching how football practices run, to watching player-coach interactions. And a lot of the wisdom that Coach Parcells and Coach Belichick have, it’s not for a sport, it’s for all sports. Coach Parcells, one of his great ones was: One of the biggest jobs of a head coach is to pace his team correctly. Just to know when your team needs to go long and hard, when to back off, get a day off, whatever it may be, within a game how to pace your team, within a week, within a month, within a season. I used to read, still do voraciously, like what coaches talk about after games. I love listening to Coach Belichick’s press conferences, even though they may not be what the media wants, they’re great coaching, teaching tools.

Q: Did Parcells give you any advice that day?

A: I think Keyshawn Johnson had just written that book “Just Give Me The Damn Ball.” So I was coming with Coach Parcells out onto the field, and he said, “Walk with me,” so I’m walking with him and he says, “Do you know Keyshawn Johnson?” I said, “No, I don’t know him,” and he beckoned for Keyshawn Johnson to come over. And he introduces us and Coach Parcells starts asking me questions. He says, “Do you like good food?” And I said, “Yeah sure.” And he goes, “Well if you want to know about any restaurants around here, talk to Keyshawn. He’s your guy.” And you can see Keyshawn Johnson getting his chest puffed up a little bit. And then, he said: “Do you like clothes?” And I said, “Nah, you know, that’s not my thing.” He goes, “Well if you change your mind, Keyshawn’s your guy.” Keyshawn’s getting puffed up a little bit more. And his third question to me was, “Hey Jeff, do you like to win?” I said, “Coach, of course.” He goes, “Then don’t f—–g talk to Keyshawn Johnson, he doesn’t know a f—–g thing about winning.” Keyshawn Johnson’s reaction was, “Aw Coach,” but just how he dealt with players. To me, it wasn’t advice, but there was a lot of wisdom the entire day. You would never find a coach in any sport more giving of his time than Coach Parcells to other New York coaches.

Q: What do you think of Patrick Ewing as Georgetown head coach?

A: I read a lot of different opinions. And the critical ones always make the same mistake — they always underestimate Patrick Ewing. Georgetown’s obviously not an easy job. He has a major rebuild ahead of him. But I would just warn everyone: Don’t underestimate him. Don’t underestimate his basketball acumen. Don’t underestimate his work habits. Don’t underestimate his ability to be able to connect with players. I think they’re going to be a hard-playing, tough-minded team. I think they’re going to be reflective of his personality. I would say that no great player has ever put more into a second career than Patrick has. I’m so proud of him, so happy for him, and yet I don’t underestimate the size of the rebuild that’s ahead of him. Georgetown’s not gonna cheat, and that in of itself makes it a challenge in college sports. Everybody does it different in college, and it’s always not a level playing field.

Q: How often are you reminded of your leg-hanging on Alonzo Mourning?

A: You know what’s funny is young people know nothing of the teams I coached or any of the stupidity that followed me inserting myself into that fight. But parents don’t forget. I ran into somebody in San Francisco who said, “I just showed my son that clip.” People always ask the same thing: “What were you thinking?” And, I always say, “I understand now why criminals plead temporary insanity.” I seriously have no recollection of any thought. It was embarrassing then, it’s embarrassing now, but thankfully my players were good enough that they picked me up.

Q: What was your best Knicks moment?

A: It would have to be the two times we got to the Finals in ’94 and ’99. … The other thing is when I started with Stu Jackson. I’ll never forget Ewing, [Charles] Oakley and Mark Jackson treated me with respect from Day 1 before I’d ever earned any respect by doing anything to help them or the team.

Q: What was it like walking away from the Knicks?

A: Unfortunately when you leave a job after being there for 13 years, you have regrets. I think the regret of not keeping my team on the bench in that first Miami brawl is a huge regret, ’cause I thought we had a great team. But certainly, walking away from the Knicks I thought was best for everybody — it should have happened at the end of the year. Or before the year started.

Q: Why hasn’t Phil Jackson been successful in New York?

A: It’s hard to change a roster around. You’ve got to hit your draft picks right, you’ve gotta hit free agency right and a team’s got to fit together. And I think the first step is continuity. It’s been a lot of coaches in a short amount of time. You need a continuity and a system of play that everyone can believe in and you can draft to and fill your needs around. So much of the noise around the Knicks always centers on to triangle, or not to triangle? And I think it’s somewhat wasted energy. If they triangle next year, and that’s what they want to do, that can be a very successful style of play. But it still comes down to the roster. Because of all of the concentration, always talking about which offense to employ, I think what gets overlooked is the first step to becoming pretty good is to get a lot better defensively.

Q: Has the triangle affected Jackson’s ability to recruit?

A: I don’t think so. I think most decisions come down to money and where people want to live. So I think the Knicks would be highly enticing. But playing in New York is not for everybody. You have to be strong-minded, particularly if you want to be a star player, to play in New York.

Q: Would it be better for Carmelo Anthony to leave New York?

A: I don’t know what his family thinks about a possible move. … I think that weighs heavily on him. I think if it was just an individual decision, when your boss says that they would be better off if you weren’t there, then I think you certainly would be better off to go someplace else. Now he did negotiate the no-trade … Phil gave him the no-trade … and so I hope that Carmelo decides to move on. The best part of it for him is he can decide exactly where he would like to go, if anyplace.

Q: Would Kristaps Porzingis be ready to be “the man” in New York?

A: I don’t know. I thought this year he got cut a lot of slack as everybody focused all of their attention on Anthony. I thought Porzingis got let off the hook a lot. He’s gotta be more consistent. He’s got to be better. He’s got to find a way to impact the game consistently defensively, on the board, not just with the scoring ability. But I don’t see anything from a talent standpoint that’s missing to say that Porzingis can’t develop into a star player. I think he’s got every skill, I think he’s got the right mentality, but I think he’s got to hold himself to a very high standard, which all star players have to do, but particularly in New York.

Q: Without Carmelo riding shotgun for him, that’s a different kind of pressure, isn’t it?

A: Well, it would be because, again, Anthony, for whatever reason, is a polarizing figure that draws a lot of conversation around him. And, Porzingis has only had to deal with the praise. But every great Knick has gone through both criticism along with praise. Porzingis has yet to go through the heavy critiquing that Ewing went through and Bernard King and etc., etc., right? Carmelo Anthony, what he goes through. It would be different if he was the guy they were building around in totality.

Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?

A: Peyton Manning, love how he conducted himself. … Andre Johnson … Jose Altuve.

Q: Describe your announcing style.

A: I’m the spot-up shooter in the corner playing with two great point guards in Mike and Mark. You can stumble and bumble, occasionally make a valid point, and Mike and Mark make me look at least acceptable. … Mike is a Hall of Fame broadcaster.

Q: Is Rihanna the LeBron of the entertainment world?

A: I’m not that hip, so I don’t know, but she walked right in front of us right as that replay came about on LeBron’s great dunk. … My concentration was diverted for a second.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Good Will Hunting.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Matt Damon.

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?

A: Bruce Springsteen.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Chicken parm is hard to beat.

Q: What do you hope Knicks fans say about Jeff Van Gundy?

A: I don’t know what they should say about me, but every day I stepped onto the Garden floor, it was an honor, because the passion was evident each and every game. And, for them to allow me to be their head coach for just short of seven years was something I’ll never forget.