The New York Knicks are entering the playoffs in a way that they didn’t envision. They have lost three consecutive games and have blown double-digit leads in each of their last five losses with just one game left on the regular season schedule.
The Knicks have a lot to fix heading into the playoffs
There are a lot of problems that have been exposed about this Knicks team over the past few weeks, especially on the defensive side. In Friday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York got outscored 30-16 in the fourth quarter and shot just 27.2% from the field in the second half.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke with a sense of urgency after that loss and said that a lot needs to be corrected before the start of the postseason next weekend.
“We got to be honest with ourselves, look at what we did wrong. We got to get it fixed. And we got to get it fixed fast,” Thibodeau said via SNY.
The Knicks are in for a tough playoff battle against Detroit
The Knicks struggled mightily against the top three teams in the league this season, which is something that will follow them throughout the playoffs. They went 0-10 against the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Thunder this season, with an overwhelming majority of those games being lost in blowouts.
Their first-round playoff matchup is no pushover either, as the Detroit Pistons took three out of four from the Knicks in the season series. Despite being heavy favorites, the road through the playoffs will be very tough for the Knicks, and it will be even tougher if they don’t correct their mistakes.
The only hope at this point is that they can work on those issues in the practices leading up to their first playoff game, as they will likely rest the starters on Sunday’s regular season finale against the Brooklyn Nets.