Battle to the bottom may have its rewards

NBA commissioner Adam Silver may want to take the subway from his NBA offices for a celebrity-row perch Monday when the Bulls visit the Garden for the “Tank Bowl.”

It’s some of the little suspense left in another melancholy Knicks season as they “battle’’ the Bulls for the eighth and ninth lottery seeds.

Finishing with the eight seed — instead of the ninth — increases the Knicks’ odds of moving up to the top three in June’s draft from 6.1 percent to 10 percent.

In addition, landing the eighth spot could make the difference between whether or not they can draft Villanova’s smart small forward Mikal Bridges.

The Bulls fell under Silver’s scrutiny this month after executive vice president John Paxson declared the organization would rest Robin Lopez, Justin Holiday and Jerian Grant the rest of the season to get a look at young players. Sensitive to criticism that multiple teams went into the season ambivalent about winning, Silver ordered the Bulls to play their veterans.

Chicago has barely complied. Saturday against Cleveland, the Bulls sat Lopez, Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen and Noah Vonleh, claiming various ailments.

The Knicks didn’t get a warning from the commis- sioner after announcing after the All-Star break they would no long play starting point guard Jarrett Jack.

Jack had not played in 10 consecutive games before Saturday’s seven-minute garbage time stint in the rout of the Hornets that snapped the Knicks’ ninegame losing streak amid a 1-17 run.

The Knicks (25-45) had spent 48 hours in the eighth lottery slot before inheriting the ninth-worst record after the win over Charlotte and Chicago’s loss to the Cavaliers.

Hornacek’s young lineups have done the tanking trick. Now the Knicks face a Bulls team that has beaten them all three times they’ve met this season — each in the last seconds.

“It bothers me, but I understand from a fans’ standpoint,’’ Trey Burke said. “But from a players’ standpoint ... they have to understand as well. That’s all I ask for them. Do you all want us to go out there and look bad and look like bums? They might say we already look like bums. It’s not in my DNA to go out and lose. I don’t know how to do that.’’

Don’t refer to Monday’s matchup as the “Tank Bowl’’ to center Enes Kanter, either, even though the Bulls decided to leave Markannen, Dunn and LaVine home.

“The Knicks pay me to win games,’’ Kanter said. “I’m going to try to go out there and win every game, win every night.’’