Should Knicks Regret Clinching No. 2 Seed?

The New York Knicks may have made their playoff route harder on themselves.

Mar 12, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) dribbles against | Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks are the No. 2 seed after beating the Chicago Bulls in Sunday's regular-season finale. However, the win comes with a bit of a consequence.

The Knicks will face either the Philadelphia 76ers or the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. The team that wins tonight's Play-In game will become the No. 7 seed and head to Madison Square Garden for Game 1 on Saturday night.

However, Bleacher Report believes the Knicks may come to regret winning the final game of the season that landed them in this position.

"The No. 3 seed and a tussle with the Indiana Pacers looks a whole lot easier than either of those two options, one of which would pit the Knicks against reigning MVP Joel Embiid and the other against a Heat squad that has made a habit of eliminating contenders," Bleacher Report writes.

While the win may have given them a tougher matchup, the Knicks do benefit with the guarantee of homecourt advantage should they get past the Heat or Sixers. Of course, there's no guarantee the Knicks will win that first-round series, but the team has a winning culture. Losing games purposely to get a better matchup may sound smart in theory, but it fosters a losing mentality, which is the opposite of what this team and coach Tom Thibodeau are about.

The only thing they'll regret is if they don't perform up to standards against the Heat or Sixers when the series begins on Saturday.

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