ONE AND DONE!
Mercifully, it’s all over for Knicks tonight
CHICAGO — With an embarrassing predicament in sight, Knicks coach David Fizdale implored his team to treat the end of another lost season like a playoff series.
The Knicks responded, escaping the possibility off finishing with their worst-ever record by beating the Bulls, 9686, on Tuesday night. Dennis Smith Jr. scored 25 points and Mitchell Robinson added eight points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks.
With one game remaining, the Knicks (17-64) can only tie for the worst season in franchise history. A loss to the Pistons, who are seeking to lock up a playoff spot, would give the Knicks a record matching only their ugly 2014-15 campaign.
“Our guys really wanted this game. I issued a challenge to them with seven games to go, just kind of look at how the season was coming down and it kind of played out like a playoff series, so I challenged them to use this as our playoffs, seven games and we got down 0-1, we ended up down 1-3 and now we’ve won two in a row to have a home-court Game 7 on our court,” Fizdale said. “I’m really trying to train their minds on what you have to do to be a team that plays in the playoffs. They really took the challenge and really wanted to win this game.”
The Knicks, who had already secured the NBA’s worst record and a draft position no worse than fifth, won back-to-back games for the first time since late February.
They will face a plenty motivated Pistons team tonight.
“It’s a playoff game. The fact that we’re a young team, we only have so many wins and we have an opportunity to play in a playoff game, I think it’s an incredible opportunity for us. I want to see us rise to the challenge,” Fizdale said. “It’s not as much about trying to spoil someone else’s dream as much as it us trying to achieve ours.”
The Bulls, meanwhile, lost for the 32nd time at United Center this season, a franchise record.