The final day of the regular season has arrived and there is little certainty about the Knicks’ first-round opponent.
It could be Jimmy Butler and the Heat, Joel Embiid and the 76ers and many others.
They could work their way to the second seed or fall to fourth.
The only guarantee is that Tom Thibodeau’s team will begin the playoffs at the Garden.
“It’s huge,” Josh Hart said. “I heard the lights were really bright at MSG back then. It’s big for us.
This appeared to be a reference to comments Jarrett Allen made last year, after the Knicks beat the Cavaliers in five games, and the former Nets center said: “Even for me, the lights were brighter than expected .”
When asked if Hart was referring to a quote from a specific player from last year’s playoffs, he responded, “I just heard the lights are bright.” This is something we really need. The bright lights of the playoffs.
Trolling or not, the Knicks performed well at MSG in the playoffs last year, going 4-1.
They host the Bulls on Sunday, and with a win over Chicago and a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Bucks loss in Orlando against the Magic, they would finish second.
Antetokounmpo suffers left calf strain.
This would be their best playoff seed since 2012.
“We want to go all the way,” Thibodeau said. “That’s the way we look at it and we want to improve and play our best.”
A defeat on Sunday coupled with a victory for the Cavaliers against the formidable Hornets and a defeat for the Bucks, and the Knicks would be fourth.
Cleveland would win the three-way tiebreaker thanks to its Central champion status and the Bucks own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Knicks, giving them the ending should that happen.
This would potentially force the Knicks to have to go through the powerful Celtics in the second round. If the Knicks win, the worst they could be is third.
The Knicks’ opponent is even more difficult to project.
One game separates the Magic, fifth, from the Heat, eighth.
The Magic, Pacers and 76ers are all tied with records of 46-35.
If it stays that way, the Magic would be the fifth seed, with the Pacers sixth and the 76ers seventh, facing the Heat in the first round of the play-in tournament.
Now that Embiid is back after missing more than two months with a knee injury, the 76ers and Heat would, on paper, present the biggest challenges to the Knicks.
The Heat showed last year that rankings don’t matter. They reached the Finals as the eighth seed, defeating the Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals after upsetting the No. 1 Bucks.
All games that impact the Knicks (including their own) start at 1 p.m., so they won’t know how it all plays out until after their game.
Their goal is to beat the Bulls and complete their first 50-win season since 2012-13.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to show up and work in the playoffs anyway. So for us, it doesn’t really matter,” Hart said. “I think we lost to Orlando three times this year. We can’t think too much about it. We need to make sure we take care of our business and whatever happens, happens.
New York Post
