For the Knicks to clinch the Jap Convention’s No.3 seed, two issues wanted to occur on Sunday: a victory over the Phoenix Suns, coupled with an Indiana Pacers loss to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
The Knicks dealt with enterprise with a 112-98 victory at Madison Sq. Backyard to punch win No. 50 for the second season in a row, however the Pacers foiled their plans with a 125-120 win in Denver.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned clinching the No. 3 seed is significant for a workforce that wishes to play its greatest basketball on the finish of the season.
“We talked about it. I think that as you head down the stretch, you want to check boxes,” Thibodeau mentioned after the win over the Suns. “You want a winning record at home, winning record on the road. 50 wins is good. You want the highest seed possible, and then you want to be playing well, so we’re going step by step. We’re not skipping over anything, and this is the approach we’ve taken all season long, so we’re not gonna change now. We feel like this will help prepare us for what’s down the road.”
So now the Knicks, who’ve a 3.5-game lead over the fourth-seeded Pacers within the standings, want only one extra win to clinch the third seed, no matter what the Pacers do the remainder of the best way, although an Indiana loss may also seal the deal for New York.
A hiccup?
The Knicks are a mixed 1-8 in opposition to their subsequent three opponents: the reigning champion Boston Celtics on Tuesday (0-3), the No. 5 Detroit Pistons (1-2) within the entrance leg of a back-to-back on Thursday, then the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (0-3) within the second leg on Friday.
Even when they lose all three, and even when the Pacers win out, the Knicks will nonetheless clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory over the Nets at Barclays Heart within the season finale on Sunday.
Indiana’s schedule makes it unlikely the Pacers will run the desk. The Pacers should play the top-seeded Cavaliers twice of their closing 4 video games, together with as soon as within the entrance leg of a back-to-back.
So the Knicks are nonetheless prone to maintain onto No. 3. They only weren’t capable of safe it in Jalen Brunson’s first sport again from a proper ankle sprain on Sunday.
“Any time you can move up in the standings is the best. We want to be playing our best basketball come the playoffs,” Karl-Anthony Cities mentioned. “Every game matters, and all it’s saying is how well we’ve been playing this season — the seeding.”
Their subsequent shot at getting it executed might be in opposition to a workforce they haven’t been capable of remedy this season. The Celtics personal a median margin of victory of 21 factors via their first three matchups in opposition to the Knicks.
“It’s always a good test when you get to play good teams, but we’ve gotta keep working on ourselves and keep figuring out ways we can be better and be a more complete team come playoffs.”
“Every game is a test,” Thibodeau added. “Tomorrow, day off, recovery, and then prepare. To understand what goes into winning. Don’t change your routine but understand what we have to do to win.”
DUNKANOBY
OG Anunoby mentioned his 360 double pump dunk to place a cap on Sunday’s victory over the Suns was nothing new — however his teammates disagree.
“I used to do 360s all the time,” Anunoby mentioned at his locker after a 32-point efficiency in opposition to Phoenix. “It’s just another dunk.”
Brunson, who was trailing Anunoby on the play, joked he hoped his teammate would make a play for him as an alternative.
“[He] definitely doesn’t do it [360s] practice,” the All-Star guard mentioned after the sport earlier than deadpanning: “I was kind of hoping he’d throw it off the backboard to me, but I didn’t get that one.”
Anunoby’s 32-point efficiency marked his tenth straight sport with 23 or extra factors.
“He’s been playing unbelievable these past couple of weeks,” mentioned Brunson. “All season, but he really stepped up recently and he’s just doing what he does. That’s what we expect of him.”
His 360 at Madison Sq. Backyard, nevertheless, despatched the group into an uproar. Is it time to punch Anunoby’s ticket to the 2026 NBA Dunk Contest?
“We’ll see,” he joked. “I’ll sleep on it.”
“He did a 360 today?” Miles McBride joked. “Nah, we know what he does when it comes to the dunking — Dunk-A-Noby.”
