Knicks Face Suddenly Meaningful Regular Season Finale

The so-called meaningless nature of the Knicks' final games has taken on a dramatic pall as the playoffs loom: New York has lost three in a row for just the third time this season and just learned that it will have to face a resurgent Detroit Pistons group that will have nothing to lose as it embarks on its first playoff trip since 2019.

Some of the defeats would be understandable considering their spot on the season's timeline: this week began with an avoidable, if not somewhat inspiring, loss to the Boston Celtics before a futile trip to the aforementioned Motor City. Yes, the Knicks lost a seemingly safe lead, but they could lean back with the assurance that they kept pace with the full-strength Pistons despite resting three primary men (OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson).

Friday, however, offered fair cause to at least unlock the panic button: even with Karl-Anthony Towns sitting, the Knicks' 108-102 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers was still alarming. Considering Cleveland, locked into the Eastern Conference's top seed, sat contributors like Donovan Mitchell, De'Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome, it retroactively makes this week's other losses seem more dire.

The loss to Cleveland denied the Knicks (50-31) even the mere satisfaction of securing the third seed on their own terms, as the spot was more or less assured when the Indiana Pacers rested all of their primary men against Orlando. New York also allows the "can't beat the best" narrative to follow them into the postseason, as it finished the year 0-10 against the current Association podium of Oklahoma City, Cleveland, and Boston.

"Even not being at full strength, we were capable of winning each of those games," said Josh Hart, who added that the Knicks weren't playing "[anywhere] close to [their] best basketball, per Chris Herring of ESPN.

A crosstown clash with the Nets is the last chance to get at least some of the momentum back. Like the Knicks, the Nets' fate is sealed, albeit on the lottery odds board rather than the playoff bracket. Brooklyn (26-55) has the sixth-best odds to land the top pick that many presume will be used on Duke sensation Cooper Flagg, with no chance to move up or down.

Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, head coach Tom Thibodeau vowed to "worry about Sunday on Sunday," but his comments after the Cleveland calamity seem to hint at regulars getting at least some time against the Nets.

“We need to get rhythm. We need to get better as a team, we need to get a rhythm,” Thibodeau said in Bondy's report. “You get the highest seed you possibly can, and then you make those decisions about whether you rest or what you’re doing.”

“We have to go into this next game with the right mentality and right mindset and have a short-term memory,” Brunson said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “We can’t let things like this linger on. It’s important to have short-term memory right now and continue to look forward. I know it’s tough. It sounds like it’s B.S., but it’s literally what we have to do right now in order for us to do better.”

Despite their eliminated status, the Nets may be the best opponents the Knicks could face in an effort to win back momentum: despite dropping each of the first three meetings, Brooklyn has played the Knicks very well this year, as the three losses have come by a combined 16 points.