With 20 games remaining, the plummeting Knicks suddenly find themselves in a five-team dogfight just to avoid a play-in position in the Eastern Conference.
Coach Tom Thibodeau’s shorthanded team’s next three games will be against teams in that cluster, with a home game against the Magic on Friday followed by back-to-back games against the 76ers on Sunday and Tuesday (both at the Garden). It will be a match against.
After both teams played Wednesday night, the Knicks (36-26) moved into fifth place in the East, a half-game behind the Magic, who lost 16 straight games to the Wizards in free fall.
The Knicks remain 0.5 games behind the sixth-place Heat and are now one game behind the Sixers, who lost to the Grizzlies at home despite blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Asked if he looked at the scoreboard after Tuesday’s loss to the Hawks, Josh Hart said, “It does come to mind sometimes, but I don’t think about it too much.” “At the end of the day, I think this team can make some noise once it’s healthy. Obviously, you don’t want to be in the play-ins. He’ll have three days rest for the first round, he’ll have five days rest.” is required.
“This is a cliché for Thibs, but we’re just trying to take it one day at a time. Of course we’re going to get our players back soon, but we’ve got to keep pushing. , we’re where we are right now and I like this team.”
Jalen Brunson missed all but 47 seconds of the past two games due to a left knee contusion.
But Thibodeau said before Tuesday’s game that the All-Star point guard’s MRI results were “clean” and that the injury is “much better” than it was when he was injured Sunday in Cleveland.
Myles McBride, who has played nearly 93 minutes in the past two games with Brunson absent, also claimed to be avoiding looking at the standings. The Heat are half a game behind the Knicks with one game left (April 2nd in Miami), and the Pacers are 1¹/₂ games back.
“Honestly, no. It’s hard just to keep up with that,” McBride said. “You just have to take it one game at a time.”
The Knicks hope Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow surgery) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) can return to the lineup by the end of the regular season.
“You don’t want to see players get hurt,” Thibodeau said Tuesday. “I know how hard the players have worked and how much they have sacrificed.
“Obviously, we want to do our best. But injuries are part of the game and it’s about how quickly we can adapt as a team. That’s the challenge we face.”
Veteran big man Taj Gibson, who appeared in 15 games over two stints with the Knicks earlier this season, has agreed to a 10-day contract with the Pistons, ESPN reported.
Gibson, 38, who also played with Thibodeau for the Bulls, Timberwolves and Knicks earlier in his career, re-signed with the Knicks in December after Robinson underwent ankle surgery.
Gibson was fired in January but returned in February on a two-shot, 10-day contract.
