The Knicks have officially avoided NBA play-in scenarios for the second straight season.
Tom Thibodeau’s team clinched a spot in the top 6 of the Eastern Conference playoffs when the Heat lost 111-92 to the Mavericks on Wednesday night in Miami.
The Knicks, who have three games remaining in the regular season which begins Thursday in Boston, can still finish between second and sixth place in the East.
Those spots were separated by just 2 1/2 games heading into Wednesday’s championship game, with the Knicks trailing No. 2 Milwaukee by one and leading No. 6 Indiana by 1 1/2 games.
“Same mentality. Same approach,” Jalen Brunson said after Tuesday’s win in Chicago. “I just think as we get closer to the end of the season, we’ve talked about not running to the finish line, but just sprinting to it. So we have to make sure we play as hard as possible and get better every day. And we need to make sure our minds are ready to go.
The Heat came out of the play-ins a year ago to advance to the NBA Finals as the No. 8 seed in the East, including a six-game second-round elimination of the Knicks.
The Knicks no longer have key contributors RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes or injured All-Star Julius Randle from that playoff team.
But they added sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo, two-way forward OG Anunoby and others, while Brunson took another step toward superstar status with 28.4 points and 6.7 assists per match.
After Thursday’s game in Boston, the Knicks (47-32) will finish the regular season with games against the Nets (Friday) and Bulls (Sunday) at the Garden.
“We want to win every game, so we play every game to win,” OG Anunoby said after Tuesday’s game. “We don’t really worry about anything else. Just try to win every match.
New York Post
