Another crunch-time loss, this one to Boston, means play-in game for playoffs is likely
Derrick Rose admitted his ignorance to the specifics of the NBA’s play-in tournament, which is understandable considering 1) it’s new, and 2) it’s complicated. But the Knicks should get acclimated quickly because that’s probably where they’re headed as one of the 7-to-10 seeds in the Eastern Conference, as reiterated in Wednesday’s 101-99 loss to the Celtics.
“I heard about (the play-in tournament) last year but didn’t pay too much attention to it,” said Rose, who was out of the Orlando bubble last season because his Pistons didn’t make the cut. “We weren’t in the playoffs and I don’t watch basketball like that in the summer. If we’re there, we have to play those games. But we want to avoid that and just try to win as many games as possible.”
Here’s a quick refresher on the tournament, which was adopted to include more teams in the playoff race and spice up the end of the regular season:
l The 7 and 8 seeds play one game, with the winner clinching the 7th seed and a spot in the postseason.
l The 9 and 10 seeds play one game, with the loser eliminated.
l The loser of 7-8 game will host the winner of the 9-10 game. The winner secures the final spot in the playoffs.
Broken down to simpler terms: the 7th and 8th seeds need to win one game to get into the playoffs; the 9th and 10th seeds need to win two games. This is all relevant to the Knicks (25-27) because after Wednesday’s defeat they’re alone in eighth place, a half-game game behind the Celtics and one game ahead of the ninth-seeded Pacers. The season is already 70% complete.
“We’re comfortable with where we are in the standings but not that comfortable,” Rose said. “A two or three game slip could end up getting out of the playoffs. We’re cautious about that, what we have to do, the urgency that we have to play with every night and just try to play our game, play with a faster pace and just play together and we’ll find ourselves there. Bu we’re watching the standings.”
As Rose indicated, the Knicks are in a delicate position. They’re navigating a stretch of five losses in their last six games, struggling to close out close games and proving anti-clutch upand-down the roster. The Knicks have sixth-toughest schedule remaining in the NBA based on the opponent’s record. In their 15 total matchups against the league’s worst teams – the Timberwolves, Pistons, Rockets, Thunder, Magic and Wizards – they have just one left (at Houston on May 2). A postseason run territory for most of the Knicks, who only have two players on the roster with more than 17 playoff games in their careers. Rose is one of them. He actually won a play-in game to get the eighth-seed with the Timberwolves three years ago, and, way back in 2010, his Bulls needed a Raptors defeat on the last day to get into the postseason.
He wants to avoid the drama. It didn’t look good for their prospects Wednesday in yet another close defeat.
“You just don’t want to be in that situation,” Rose said. “So we’ve got to go out here and make sure we take care of business, play as hard as we can and see if we can get as many wins as possible.”