Knicks focus on Celtics, finishing season strong after clinching playoff spot
Knicks' Josh Hart (3) gestures to teammates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
BOSTON — When the Knicks clinched a top six playoff spot with Miami's loss on Wednesday night, it marked another step in the path the team had set forth in its goals this season. So how did they celebrate the occasion?
“Nothing,” Josh Hart said bluntly. “It’s nothing that — we expected to do it at the beginning of the year. It’s cool. We’re going to the playoffs. That was something that was expected. So it’s cool, but I’m not going to sit there and be like, 'Oh, my God, I’m so excited.’ That’s what we expected to do.”
For the Knicks, that meant the focus once again was on the task at hand — facing the Boston Celtics on Thursday night and trying to prove that, as fans and media try to map out playoff matchups and possible seedings, the goal is to play well enough that it doesn’t matter.
“I know the media tends to talk about measuring sticks,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think for us it’s to understand improvement. I said this when we hit the 70-game mark that this part of the season is different. There’s a different intensity level to it. We have to understand that and continue to improve.
“Keep getting better. don’t be satisfied. Getting a playoff spot, you’re checking a box, but the important thing is to be playing your best when you get to the playoffs. Don’t get distracted. Don’t get sidetracked. There’s a million ways you can get sidetracked and distracted this time of the year. Don’t do that. Understand what goes into winning each and every game.”
That sounds a lot like the speeches that Thibodeau uttered after Game No. 1, No. 41 and now, as they prepared for game No. 80. But unlike Hart, he didn’t dismiss the achievement and the step taken.
“We celebrated,” Thibodeau said. “We just wanted to be aware. So as you go, you’re just checking the boxes. You take it one day at a time. And it’s not over. You have to go through the finishing line. And for some teams — the Celtics have built up a big cushion, so they’re in a different category, but for the rest of us, we’re all fighting for seeding and home court and that sort of thing. So that’s our challenge.”
The challenge in front of them in this final game of a four-game road trip was no easy task. The Celtics entered the night as just one of three teams the Knicks had not beaten this season — and at 0-4 the most dominant. But the Celtics have dominated everyone like that this season, bringing a 62-17 record into the game and having already assured themselves of home court all the way through the NBA Finals.
But the Celtics also were not treating this as a rest day or hiding players from the Knicks for possible postseason scouting purposes. After listing six of their top seven players as questionable a day earlier, all of them were made available shortly before game time.
“Yeah, they’re in a unique position because of the cushion they have,” Thibodeau said. “So their challenge is rest versus rhythm. But they put themselves in a great spot. So I think that’s for them to decide and we prepare for everyone. You get the injury report . . . You know some guys can be out. So who is the next guy if one guy is out and you plan accordingly.”
The Knicks have taken the same approach, playing all of their healthy players every night — and not having a single player on the injury report Thursday other than Julius Randle, who underwent shoulder surgery Tuesday. And Thibodeau has seemed to be moving closer to a playoff rotation, playing just eight players in Chicago Tuesday — some of it as a playoff preview and some as a matter of matchups.
“It depends. Probably a little bit of both,” Thibodeau said. “Understanding, OK, everyone is playing for something. So you’re seeing the intensity go way up right now. And then who are they playing, who do they have on the floor. You’re trying to look at the combinations that will work well against them and matchups are everything. Keep an eye on that. We want everyone playing well. There’s a need for everybody throughout the course of the year. We saw that with all the injuries we had this year, minutes restrictions and everything else. Get in there and get the job done.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
