Here’s where things stand with the Knicks after a remarkable road win over the Clippers on Sunday: New York’s ‘magic number’ to clinch a playoff spot is down to two.
That means the Knicks can clinch the sixth seed if they win two of their final four regular season games or if Boston loses two of its final four regular season games. The Knicks can also clinch the sixth seed if they win one of their final four games and Boston loses one of its final four games.
New York (38-30) enters the week alone in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They’re three games ahead of the No. 7 seed Celtics and one game ahead of the Hawks and Heat.
If the Knicks and Hawks (37-31) finished with identical records, New York holds the tiebreaker over Atlanta. If the Knicks and Heat (37-31) finish tied, Miami owns the tiebreaker.
If the Knicks and Celtics finish with identical records (the Knicks would have to lose their next three while Boston wins its next three), the tie-breaker would be determined on Sunday when the Knicks host the Celtics in the regular season finale.
New York reduced its ‘magic number’ to two thanks to one of its best wins of the season – a 106-100 road win over the Clippers. It was the first time the Knicks won in LA since 2010.
New York won the game after losing to Denver and Phoenix, and struggling in both games.
It was yet another example of the club’s resiliency under Tom Thibodeau.
“The heart of the team has been special from the beginning,” Thibodeau said after Sunday’s win. “….The challenge for us is to be hungry and don’t change now. This is what we’ve done all year. Just concentrate on improvement and the next opponent.”
The Knicks face the Lakers on Tuesday, the final game of their six-game road trip. They will finish no worse than 3-3 on the trip.
Here are a few observations from the win over the Clippers:
RANDLE IMPACT WAS BEYOND POINTS:
Julius Randle missed 11 of his first 14 shots but hit three key shots for the Knicks late in the fourth quarter to seal the win. He also had 14 rebounds.
When a reporter framed a question that suggested Randle didn’t have a ‘big game’ against the Clippers, Thibodeau pushed back.
“Let me correct you on that, he did have a big night. They’re double-teaming him, he’s spraying the ball (to his teammates). Everyone tends to measure people on points or shots and not the all-around game.
“The big thing is the perseverance, the way he rebounded the ball, the hustle plays he made. He played a great game without shooting the ball great. At the end of the game, made several huge plays for us. When you have that type of mental toughness, it’s huge for your team.
“So I thought he played a great game even though he didn’t have a high number of points. But a great all around game. And that’s what he does for us.”
Randle has carried the Knicks on many nights this season, but Derrick Rose (25 points, eight assists off the bench), Reggie Bullock (24 points, 5-12 on 3-point attempts, two steals) helped pick Randle up during the first 45 minutes of Sunday’s game. Randle closed things out with a few clutch mid-range jump shots.
Afterward, Randle was asked about his success on mid-range shots this season.
“For me it’s all about being able to be comfortable getting to spots, especially down the stretch,” Randle said. “I know they say it’s a tough shot but I feel like it’s only a tough shot if you don’t work on it… I put the time and the work in and I’m extremely comfortable taking that shot. Thibs gives us the freedom to be players and to take that shot and have confidence in it.”
In late January, the Knicks lost a home game to the Clippers. They fell to 9-12 at the time. To outsiders, it probably wasn’t clear then that they’d have the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference entering the final week of the season.
But Randle said the group has a strong sense of confidence at that point.
“It shows our growth throughout the course of the year. At the beginning of the year we knew we could compete with anybody as long as we stayed to our principles and played together as a team,” Randle said. “And now we feel like we can beat anybody. Every time we step on the court we have confidence as a team that we’re going to win the game and anybody can step up and I think that’s the beauty of the team.”
Thanks to big shots from Randle late and strong play from his supporting cast, the Knicks have a chance to post a winning record on this grueling West Coast trip.
“The big thing is everyone has been doubting the team all along,” Thibodeau said. “We knew going on the trip we had been playing good basketball and we were going to have to take it up another level.”
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