Damn right the Knicks are looking at the standings.
In an Eastern Conference up for grabs from seeds Nos. 4-8, even head coach Tom Thibodeau’s got an eye on the prize.
Sixth or better is the name of the game for a Knicks team missing four starters with Jalen Brunson (bruised knee) a game-time decision against the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Finish No. 6 or better in the East, and the Knicks will not only avoid the sudden-death Play-In Tournament between seeds Nos. 7-10, but they will also get five days (April 15-19) to recharge and recompose before the playoffs begin on April 20.
Those off days are much-needed for players like Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, Precious Achiuwa, Deuce McBride and Isaiah Hartenstein, who have accrued mileage filling in for a shorthanded Knicks team.
Those days will also be valuable for players like Achiuwa, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, OG Anunoby and Shake Milton, who arrived as part of a number of midseason moves to bolster a Knicks roster poised to make a deep playoff run — if it can finally get healthy.
The Knicks aren’t healthy — not yet. As a result, they’ve plummeted from within arm’s reach of the No. 2 seed and are fighting tooth-and-nail not to fall to eighth in the East.
At this point of the season, the standings are top priority.
“I think it’s our business to understand where we are and what we have to do,” the Knicks’ head coach said after practice in Tarrytown on Thursday. “So I think all our players are aware, because you have to know what’s going on each and every day.”
There’s a fine line, however. Get too absorbed in the standings and you can’t see what’s right in front of you. Thibodeau said he doesn’t want his players to get too caught-up with the playoff picture. If the Knicks can handle business on a daily basis, everything else will fall into place.
“We want everyone to study, but then to focus on exactly what’s in front of us and have a great practice today,” he said on Thursday. “Be ready for Orlando [on Friday]. And you go step by step. I think if you look behind or you look ahead, you miss what’s in front of you. And we know right now we need great concentration and maximum effort.
“Our margin of error is small, and we understand that.”
It’s also hard for the Knicks to pay attention to the standings given the bigger fish the team has to fry: Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) and Anunoby (right elbow surgery) have been out for more than a month.
The Knicks hardly have a fighting chance against quality opponents until they can get back to full strength.
The depleted Knicks fielded an Orlando Magic opponent wreaking havoc in New York this season.
Orlando has already won the season series and entered their final matchup with a 3-0 record over the Knicks this season.
The Magic leapfrogged the Knicks for fourth place in the standings and entered Friday’s matchup a half game ahead of New York in the standings.
Orlando also entered the Knicks game on a five-game winning streak, securing victories in 13 of its last 16 games.
“[Paying attention to the standings is] extremely, extremely important. … So we know that’s obviously a challenge and us coming in kind of riddled by injuries a little bit,” Hart said after practice on Thursday. “So we know that coming in and we know they’re one-half game ahead of us in the standings. We know all those [kinds] of things [about the standings].”
Orlando is only the next opponent up on the docket.
After the Magic, the Knicks have back-to-back matchups against the playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and Tuesday.
The Knicks have the 12th most difficult remaining in all of basketball, according to sports data site Positive Residual.
In New York’s favor: Joel Embiid is out with a meniscus injury, and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey recently suffered a concussion and must clear the NBA’s concussion protocol before returning to the court.
Working against New York? Orlando is at full strength, and the Sixers are a well-coached team only one game behind the Knicks in the standings.
Only 3.5 games separate No. 4 from No. 8. Enough consecutive losses paired with a hot streak from teams like Orlando, Miami, Philly and Indiana, and the Knicks could suddenly find themselves in Play-In territory.
“We lost three games to Orlando this season,” Bogdanovic said after practice on Thursday. “We’ve got Philly coming right after. We have two games in a row against them. These three games are really important because we have the same record. So having guys back healthier and having that sense of urgency to earn home-court advantage in the playoffs is gonna be big for us.”
Of course the Knicks know this. According to Bogdanovic, all players start checking their spot in the standings once they come out of the All-Star break.
Teams entered Friday with anywhere between 18 and 21 games remaining on the schedule. For all intents and purposes, this is the fourth quarter.
Which means for the Knicks, it’s winning time — even if most of their starting five still watches from the sidelines, waiting for the all clear to return to the court.
“We [have] to give them our best shot,” said Hart. “We know on the other side, on the flip side, they’re going to give us their best shot and they’re right there. So we know it’s going to be a battle. We know that. Philly, same situation. So we [have] to make sure we’re just locked in and take every possession for what it is.”
