Last week, the New York Knicks were in the midst of a winning streak that would conclude at nine with a loss to the lowly Hornets. New York proceeded to lose two more games to push the losing streak to three, but that ended with a 112-108 win over the Lakers on Sunday.
With the loss to the Clippers on Saturday, though, the Knicks lost control of the No. 5 spot in the East as the Nets went on to beat the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. While it would still be great if New York finished the regular season as the No. 6 seed and avoided the play-in, a first-round playoff series against the No. 4 Cavaliers is what Knicks fans should be rooting for.
After a tough four-game road trip, the Knicks will play one more game out West before returning to the Garden in what will be a less chaotic week.
Knicks schedule lookahead March 14-19
- Tuesday, March 14: at Portland Trail Blazers
- Saturday, March 18: vs Denver Nuggets
After playing four games last week, New York will play only two this week. The full three-day break will benefit the team after a week’s worth of travel. It will especially benefit Jalen Brunson, who has been sidelined with a sore left foot.
Ending the road trip with a win in Portland would put the Knicks in a good position before facing the top team in the West. Josh Hart will make his return to the Moda Center on Tuesday and New York will get to see Cam Reddish in action for the first time since the trade.
The toughest test of the week will happen on Saturday afternoon in the Garden. The Knicks might’ve beaten the Nuggets earlier in the season, but that was in a game without Nikola Jokic. Denver’s going through a rough stretch, but even after a few days of rest New York will still be challenged with trying to find a way to stop the back-to-back MVP.
Luckily, the Nets have a tough slate of games this week. Brooklyn will face Oklahoma City on the road before returning to Barclays to host Sacramento and Denver. Even with Mikal Bridges playing at a high level, the Nets could see their hot streak start to come to an end. Brooklyn has won five of its last six games. Knicks fans always root for the Nets to lose anyways, but fans should especially be doing so now with the No. 5 seed on the line.
The playoffs are creeping closer and the priority right now should be for New York to remain in the top six and for Jalen Brunson to get healthy. The Knicks may be on a bit of a downswing, but this team could still prove to be lethal in April.
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