The Knicks look to ascend in the closing weeks of the regular season
The Knicks are in an intense race for seeding in the Eastern Conference as the regular season rapidly moves to its conclusion. The post The Knicks look to ascend in the closing weeks of the regular season appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
Black News 
The Knicks are in an intense race for seeding in the Eastern Conference as the regular season rapidly moves to its conclusion. After encountering the Jazz last night in Utah, the Knicks have 15 more games remaining before their postseason schedule begins, with the Pacers up next tomorrow in Indianapolis. They were 41-25 when they tipped off against the young, talented, rebuilding Jazz. The No. 3 seed in the East, the Knicks were six games behind the conference-leading Detroit Pistons (46-18) and trailing the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics (43-22) by two and a half games. They led the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers (40-25) by just half a game.
The Celtics became a greater threat to be the East representative in the Finals with the return of five-time All-NBA selection Jayson Tatum. He played his first game in 10 months (298 days) after rupturing his right Achilles tendon versus the Knicks in Game 4 of their East semifinals series last May.
“It’s been a long time coming just to get to this point,” Tatum said, following a 15-point effort in 27 minutes in the Celtics’ 120-100 win over the Mavericks. “Nights and days I dreamed about this moment and anticipation — the crowd. It’s been 42 and a half weeks since I last played in an NBA game…”
The Knicks aren’t concerned with the Celtics or any of their closest competitors. Their objective, as head coach Mike Brown has often underscored, is to be ascending at this late juncture of the campaign. Careless protection of the basketball was their undoing in back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Lakers (110-97) and Los Angeles Clippers (126-118) on Sunday and Monday respectively.
“The biggest difference in the basketball game was our turnovers,” said Brown about the Knicks falling to the Clippers. “That fueled their break. But again, we had 18 or 19 turnovers last night . We had 20 tonight and for 24 points, and they outscored us by 14 points in just that area alone. I liked their fight. I liked the way that we played in the second half for the most part. We just have to find a way to take care of the basketball.
“The crazy part about it is we’ve been pretty good in that area,” Brown said. “But yesterday we weren’t and today we weren’t, so it’s one of those things we’re going to keep talking about, we’re going to keep showing it, and we’ll see how it goes forward. I don’t want to overreact to the two games, but on the road against good teams, it impacted the outcome of both games in a very heavy way.”
Winning the margins will be a key determinant and indicator for where the Knicks will ultimately finish in the regular season standings and beyond. The granular details such as effort, minimizing imprudent fouls, and being on the plus-side of 50-50 balls and second chance points could serve as the separator between success and disappointment.
The Knicks end their five-game road trip against the Indiana Pacers tomorrow and will be back at Madison Square Garden on Sunday to host the Golden State Warriors and then for a rematch with the Pacers on Tuesday at MSG.
The post The Knicks look to ascend in the closing weeks of the regular season appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
