Knicks practice notes: Playoffs Remain a Goal
GREENBURGH, NY — No one has seriously discussed the New York Knicks and the playoffs for some time now.
And yet.
The Knicks, thanks to four wins in five games, are just six games behind Orlando for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs with 28 games to go.
No, a playoff surge wouldn't help with the longer-term goals of better draft position. Then again, the Brooklyn Nets did something similar, and it not only helped their in-house young players, it helped convince Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to join up.
So is a playoff run something on the minds of this team as they consider the final stretch of games?
"Oh yeah, we talk about it all the time," Kevin Knox said of the prospect of a playoff push. "We're not too far off the eighth spot. We just went on a little win streak. We really wanted that one in Atlanta. But we talk about it every day in that locker room, having the confidence to really keep playing and keep hooping."
The youngest Knicks would definitely benefit from a trip to the playoffs, but as Julius Randle pointed out, he's never experienced the postseason, either.
"It's always significant to get to the playoffs," Randle said. "But we've just got to take it a game at a time."
That game, Wednesday night against the Wizards, could be one in which New York is short-handed. Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier, Mitchell Robinson and Maurice Harkless are all questionable for the game with various injuries.
Even so, the recent run of play has emboldened these Knicks, according to head coach Mike Miller.
"The focus — what we can control the most is how we prepare today," Miller said. "We can control is that we came in today, and we got better. We come in tomorrow and we continue to move forward... we've played pretty good basketball the last few weeks. We've put ourselves in a good position. [But] we've got to keep growing."
