Nothing beats that awkward moment when you realize the New York Knicks are still in the playoff race.
I’m kidding. Save for their massive letdown against the Kyrie Irving-less Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks have been playing some nice ball of late—so much so, that we can mention “NBA playoffs” and “the Knicks” in the same sentence without feeling foolish or being inebriated beyond walking.
Facts are still facts, though. The Knicks remain 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 8 seed, with one fewer game to play. No, nabbing a playoff berth is not out of the question, but it’s going to be difficult. The Knicks dug themselves quite a hole. There’s no guarantee they come out of this season a playoff team.
But don’t worry, because Mike Woodson has a plan.
Well, maybe not a plan. He has an inkling, really.
Following New York’s loss to Cleveland, Woodson intimated how many wins the Knicks will need to secure a playoff berth in the increasingly vexing Eastern Conference, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
The magic number seems to be about 38.
While no one is saying that definitively, that seems to be the number of wins the Knicks have set as the target for playoff entry.
“I think anywhere from 38 to 40 might be the number,” said Knicks coach Mike Woodson, whose Knicks need to go 9-3 in the final 12 games to get 38 wins.
“As far as how many wins it’s gonna take, who knows? We gotta go play,” said Carmelo Anthony.
Sounds reasonable. It’s not every year a team can finish two to six games under .500 and still make the playoffs. The Knicks should consider themselves lucky.
And then they should pray.
For the 29-41 Knicks to hit 38 wins, they’ll have to go 9-3 to close out this season. Problem is, their remaining 12 games include bouts against the Brooklyn Nets (twice), Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors (twice). There’s also the Washington Wizards.
Translation: It’s not going to be easy.
Even if the Knick go 9-3, they must still hope the 31-38 Hawks win no more than 37 games. That entails them going 6-7, the rest of this season, which once again, is not unreasonable. In fact, I’d even call it optimistic.
I’ve watched the Hawks closely over the last few weeks, including their previous winning streak. Something about them—inconsistent execution, mostly—has me thinking they’ll go something like 4-9 in their final 13 games. And if they go 4-9, that means the Knicks are free to go 7-5, a far easier goal to reach.
Woodson, however, is right for a change. Setting the bar high should instill a sense of urgency in these Knicks, who have only just started answering the call to action. Their biggest remaining test isn’t one specific game or string of contests, it’s their ability to rebound.
The Knicks have not responded well to defeat this season. Hell, they’ve barely responded well to sizable leads, often blowing them in the second half. If they’re going to legitimately flirt with a playoff berth, they need to play like a postseason team.
That means beating the tanking Los Angeles Lakers on Monday on the heels of their loss to Cleveland, and going from there, taking it one game at a time, until their fate has finally been decided.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His work can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
