NEW YORK — The Knicks are cautious, refusing to look ahead even at the simplest future scenarios, instead focusing on the task in front of them. And now, with Sunday night’s 118-109 win over the Washington Wizards, that future is a reality as they clinched a playoff spot.
Tom Thibodeau is not the type to celebrate accomplishments until the job is complete, and three games remain on the schedule before the Knicks turn their attention to the postseason. But even if he wouldn’t celebrate, it still was something worth celebrating.
And as the final seconds ticked down, the crowd at Madison Square Garden rose and cheered loudly. “It’s a great accomplishment because it’s one of the goals, one of several,” Thibodeau said. “It’s the next step along the way. So, keep going, and that’s where the focus is. We know how important the next game is. So get ready for Indiana [Wednesday]. But just keep checking the boxes as we go.”
Through years of frustration, a playoff berth has been a rare treat for Knicks fans. Two years ago, they got the No. 4 seed in a COVID-ravaged season, and last season, they put on display how fortune can be fleeting as they dropped into the lottery.
The win officially put the Knicks in the top six in the Eastern Conference, avoiding the play-in tournament, and they are closing in on securing the fifth spot and a first-round meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With three games left for the Knicks and four for the Nets, the magic number of Knicks wins/Nets losses is two to cement that first-round matchup.
While Thibodeau has chosen not to look beyond the immediate task, Garden Chairman James Dolan did confidently state earlier this season, “I think our expectations should be that the team makes the playoffs.”
“I said it at the time — I love that the owner has great belief in the team,” Thibodeau said. “That’s what I want. Our job is to put the work in each day. But there’s no trick to this, there’s no magic to this, there’s no shortcut to it. Just put the work in each and every day. If you do that, you’ll get better and you’ll have a chance. And that’s what we did.”
That has been his approach since the preseason, and it isn’t about to change now.
The Knicks’ task certainly seemed easy on paper Sunday with the Wizards playing without their top four players — Kristaps Porzingis, Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Monte Morris.
The Knicks announced shortly before game time that they were without RJ Barrett, who was sidelined with a non-COVID illness. Julius Randle watched most of the game from the end of the bench in street clothes and with a protective boot on his left foot.
If it seemed like a tank by the Wizards, the patchwork lineup built a 10-point lead in the second quarter. The Knicks spent much of the game fighting back, finally pulling ahead midway through the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Brunson, who led the way for the Knicks as he has on so many nights.
It wasn’t a 48-point effort like Friday for Brunson, but on a night when not much seemed to go right much of the game, he steadied the team and finished with 27 points and eight assists. Quentin Grimes also scored 27 points, Immanuel Quickley had 22 and Obi Toppin, starting in place of Randle for the second straight game, added 21.
“I want a chance to compete,” Brunson said. “Whenever you get a chance to do that I think that’s the most important thing you want to do. I’m not really going to play for individual accolades. If you win those things can come. But if you don’t win it’s meaningless. For us, we have to continue to win as many games as possible. All the other stuff is going to fall into place, but I’m just here to win.”
The most troubling moment came in the fourth quarter when Josh Hart, who has been a huge part of the team’s success since arriving at the trade deadline in February, collided with Washington’s Jordan Goodwin and appeared to turn his ankle. He headed straight to the locker room but returned to the bench after being re-taped. He did not play again, but was available and he said there was no issue and “I’ve played with worse.”
After a 61-point first half for the Wizards, the Knicks surrendered just 18 in the third quarter and stretched the lead to 20 points in the fourth quarter before a late Wizards rally. “I mean we got to build good habits,” Toppin said. “We got to still work on our game, get better as a team offensively defensively, because we want to be at our best going into the playoffs.”
