In a season full of disappointment and unmet expectations, the New York Knicks are doing their best to tug on the heartstrings of fans one last time before the season ends. The Knicks are making a playoff push with 11 games remaining on the season, and are currently in the midst of a west coast trip that started Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers…a game most fans would like to forget.
Fans have been jerked around enough this season. They’ve been told that they’ll be watching a playoff contender (or even a championship contender), but those dreams haven’t come close to fruition. With the beauty of hindsight, we no longer think those ridiculous thoughts, thanks in large part to Andrea Bargnani, Mike Woodson’s inability to change his scheme to his roster, and Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith’s sharp decline.
But Phil Jackson has returned to Madison Square Garden in the role of team president to attempt to restore respectability and bring a winning culture back to the team where he began his playing career.
Before we can see his vision unfold, we’ll be forced to watch a stretch run held back by underperforming starters and Woodson’s incompetence. Has the recent surge of a few individuals proven that the Knicks can overcome the Hawks for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference?
The recent eight-game winning streak would seem to indicate that this team does have a bit more fight in them, especially with an average scoring total of 109 points during those eight games. Those eight games didn’t come against the strongest competition, though, and with a five-game west coast trip (along with games against Miami, Washington, Brooklyn (2), Toronto (2), and Chicago), that goal seems to be a bit much, considering they’re still two games behind the Atlanta Hawks.
Realistically, the Knicks will need to finish the season with at least seven more wins, which would put them at 37 wins on the season—17 less than last year—but enough to at least make a playoff berth a possibility. Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to capture the 8th seed with a record of 38-44, so it would make sense in a weaker Eastern Conference to have the 8th seed finish a shade under that mark. The Knicks will still a need a bit of help - and that’s where it gets tricky.
The Hawks have been up and down for the past few months, struggling immensely when Paul Millsap was out at the end of February, going 1-4 without their All-Star. They are 8-18 since February 1st, which has pushed them toward the bottom of the playoff picture and put them in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
The key for Atlanta will be staying healthy. Kyle Korver is the biggest question mark, as he was forced to sit out again last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Hawks have not fared well this season without the 3-point marksman, winning only one of their eight games without him. Due to back issues, his timetable for return is relatively unknown, with the team evaluating him each day.
The Knicks’ recent winning streak has been smeared with ugly performances against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, where poor defensive perimeter play and second-half collapses made national headlines. It’s hard to convince most Knicks fans that the playoffs are a realistic possibility at this point, especially after the team allowed the Lakers to score 51 points in one quarter, a franchise record for both clubs.
So will it happen? Probably not. The Knicks are three games back in the loss column and have previously been unable to take care of business against some of the weaker teams they’ll face at the back end of the season, and it doesn’t help that they’ll face only one sub-.500 team for the rest of the season. An epic collapse from the Hawks is the only small glimmer of hope, and could be the only way the Knicks can salvage this season. Unfortunately, it looks like that SCHOENE projection may have not been too far off.
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