Will the Knicks be a No. 2, No. 3 or No. 6 seed when the NBA regular season ends on Sunday and the playoffs begin on April 20?
With three regular season games remaining, including tonight on the road versus the Boston Celtics, and games at Madison Square Garden versus the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls on Friday and Sunday respectively, the Knicks’ positioning in the Eastern Conference playoffs seeding battle remains fluid. Their 128-117 road victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday lifted by Jalen Brunson’s 45 points moved them to the 3-seed.
The Knicks are 47-32 and just one and a half games behind the No.2 seed Milwaukee Bucks (49-31), but tenuously holding on to the third spot looking as the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers bear down on them. The Cavaliers 110-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last night improved them to 47-33 and only a half game below the Knicks.
The Magic’s 117-99 loss at Milwaukee last night dropped them to 46-34 and a game a half under the Knicks. They succumbed to a Bucks squad that was absent perennial league MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, who strained his left calf on Tuesday night in the third quarter versus the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics, which is a league best 62-17. The Bucks won the match up 104-91 but Antetokounmp will be out until at least the start of the playoffs.
That benefits the Magic, which end the regular season on Sunday at home facing the Bucks again. They also play the current No. 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers (45-35) tomorrow at home. The Sixers, a play-in tournament team as of now, are trying to rise to a No. 5 or 6 seed and avoid the play-in. They are only one game below the Magic and Indiana Pacers (46-34).
Are you following?
To paraphrase the late, great Biggie Smalls, if you didn’t know, now you know why the Eastern Conference playoff scenario won’t be decided until Sunday’s games are over and why the Knicks’ remaining two games are extremely consequential.
Center Isaiah Hartenstein encapsulated the Knicks’ collective mindset in the midst of the playoff race after they overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat the Sacramento Kings by 120-109 last week at the Garden.
“You pay attention to it a little bit, but you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You really have to take it day-by-day. I think sometimes when you get too ahead of yourself, like some games, you’re not as focused,” said Hartenstein.
“So that’s our kind of approach, [head coach TomThibodeau’s] Thibs approach all year that we don’t get too ahead of ourselves. We focus day-to-day, who we have at that moment, and I think that’s been helping us out a lot.”