Starting with Wednesday night’s 138-129 shootout win over the Pacers at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse, these last three games of the Knicks’ schedule are meaningless.
“Obviously you start with all the things you can accomplish, qualifying is the most important thing, and then the highest seed possible,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before watching three of his players break 30 points, only the third time that’s happened in team history, first time since Toby Knight, Earl Monroe and Ray Williams did it on March 24, 1979.“Now the next step is to continue to play as well as we can to take that into the playoffs.
So the Knicks are in the almost-surreal place of being able to breathe and relax. No need to fret about Julius Randle, no need to rush RJ Barrett back from illness, no need to keep playing Jalen Brunson at all. No need to be troubled by off-court silliness, like Mark Cuban sounding like a tormented travel-team soccer coachThey can phone in the final three games of the season. They can watch the NBA’s play-in tournament from their living rooms.
Knicks forward Obi Toppin knocks over Pacers guard Gabe York while shooting during the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.Kid’s heart is in the right place. But the Knicks could use the time. They need every available day to get Brunson as close to 100 percent as possible by Game 1 in Cleveland. They need every available minute to coax Randle’s ankle back to full usability.
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley looks to pass around Indiana Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson on Wednesday night.So the Knicks happily went with a reduced lineup Wednesday night, and won anyway, and will do so two more times. The Cavaliers, also with zero to play for, will go with a JV lineup Thursday night in Orlando, giving Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen the night off.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
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