3 Reasons Why the New York Knicks Will Skip the Play-In Tournament

The Knicks have been on yet another streak as of late, winning 6 straight games to improve their overall record to 31-27 on the year. This is the latest point in a season that New York has had a winning record since the 2012-13 year in which they recorded 54 wins.

Most importantly, the Knicks are currently the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. This is an extremely crucial development, as they might be able to skip over the NBA’s new Play-In sequence.

The Play-In games are a short elimination-style tournament between the 7-10 seeds to see who gets the final two playoff spots in each conference.

At the beginning of the season, many fans dreamt about the possibility of playing in the tournament as a lower seed and stealing a playoff berth. Now, New York has the chance to skip the tournament entirely.

Could the New York Knicks finish higher than 7th in the Eastern Conference?

This would be huge, as they would get some extra rest before their eventual first round series. It would also mean that they could avoid the two major powerhouses in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.

The Knicks have been on a roll as of late due to the All-NBA caliber play of Julius Randle, the 4th quarter heroics of RJ Barrett, and the stifling defense from role players such as Nerlens Noel and Reggie Bullock. Many were wary after the team suffered a heartbreaking streak of close losses, but the unit was not deterred and bounced back in a massive way.

If they continue to finish strong, they might be able to skip over the extra play-in games and get right into the first round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Here’s how.

Knicks: Home-Heavy Final Stretch

According to Tankathon, the Knicks currently have the 6th most difficult remaining schedule in the league. However, this mainly comes from their tough road trip to finish out the season. New York has a 6-game Western Conference swing where they match up against top teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns.

Outside of that road trip the schedule should be manageable, if not favorable. 8 of the Knicks’ final 14 games are at Madison Square Garden, where the team currently holds an 18-10 record. (64% winning percentage)

Those 18 wins at MSG have come by an average margin of victory of 11.1 points per game.

Additionally, the combined record of New York’s next three opponents is 80-88 which is a winning percentage of just 47%. All three of those games are at home.

Julius Randle has also been downright dominant in Madison Square Garden, averaging 24.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game on ridiculous 47-41-79 shooting splits.

The Knicks have gone back to being an imposing force at home and teams can no longer walk into MSG expecting an easy victory. If they can build up some wins among their nine remaining games in New York it would provide a cushion for potential losses when they face off against numerous Western Conference contenders.

The Knicks Have Multiple Tiebreakers

While the Knicks are in sole possession of the 6th seed at the moment, the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture is still tightly bunched together. New York is only 0.5 games behind the 4th seed, but they’re also just 3 games ahead of the 9th seed.

However, the Knicks have a chance to have tiebreakers over nearly every team that’s close to them in the standings. Only the 7th seeded Miami Heat currently have locked up a tiebreaker over the orange and blue, winning the season series 3-0.

New York currently has secured tiebreakers over the 4th seed Atlanta Hawks and the 9th seed Indiana Pacers, regardless of how any future matchups against those teams go.

They’re also tied 1-1 with the 5th seed Boston Celtics and 10th seed Toronto Raptors with important rubber matches over the final 15 games. It’s worth noting that both of those contests are going to be at home.

Finally, they’re 0-1 against the 8th seed Charlotte Hornets. However, the Hornets have had terrible injury luck and are not the same team that beat the Knicks back on Janary 11th. Charlotte likely lost promising rookie LaMelo Ball for the season with a wrist fracture and leading scorer Gordon Hayward will miss at least one matchup against New York due to a right foot sprain.

The Knicks have the opportunity to hold tiebreakers over 4 of the 5 teams directly surrounding them in the standings. That could be the difference between being a 6-seed resting for their first playoff matchup or a 7-seed fighting for their postseason lives in the Play-In Tournament.

The Knicks are on a Hot Streak

Tiebreakers and home games are all great advantages to have, but the ability to flat-out win is what’s going to propel the Knicks past the play-in tournament. New York is 10-5 over their last 15 games with their losses coming by a razor-thin margin of just 5.6 points per contest, showing that nearly every game is coming down to the wire.

Since the All-Star break, the Knicks are currently shooting 39.1% from three as a team. They’ve crossed the 40% threshold in 11 of their 21 previous games, even hitting the 50% mark on three separate occasions. RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Reggie Bullock, and Alec Burks are all hitting over 41% of their attempts from behind the arc since All-Star weekend.

It has been over a month since New York has lost by more than 13 points. They’ve allowed less than 100 points in 6 of their past 13 games and they’ve scored at least 110 points in 7 of their previous 9 games.

After struggling a bit in close contests, the team has repeatedly come up clutch in every single one of their 6 consecutive wins. They have shown a resiliency that has kept them in these close games and given them opportunities to win.

The Knicks are racking up victories at the perfect time as they continue to blow away practically every single expectation placed on them at the beginning of the year. If they can captizalize on their home court, pick up some tiebreaker wins and stay hot they should be able to forego the Play-In tournament and head right into the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.