We have one tough game left.. guess which. Tomorrow vs. Seattle. If we win, we'll have some serious momentum, and I don't see anyone that's going to break it. Look at this schedule for the remaining 15 games (after Seattle):

Blazers
Warriors
Lakers
Nets (Must win)
Bucks
Pacers (Must win)
Nets (Must win)
Bulls
Pacers (Must win)
Raptors
Cavaliers
Bobcats
Hawks
Bulls
Wizards

Tell me that's not an extremely easy schedule. Forget about on the road or at home, these are some bad, very beatable teams. The playoff hopes are very much alive, and even in the recent losses for the Knicks, they've seemed like they've come out with intensity every night since the horrible Orlando loss.

We made it through the tough stretch (with one more to go). In a 7 game stretch including Washington, Seattle, 2 Miamis, San Antonio, and a red hot Boston Celtics team, we went 4-3. Let's win tomorrow and make it 5-3.. I'll take that for that kind of stretch of games.

Another point: look at Philly's schedule. They still have to play Sacramento, Phoenix, Dallas, Boston, Miami, and a few other teams slumping or around the .500 mark (like the Lakers, and Cavs).

Indiana has an easier schedule then Philly, but still two games against Miami, and some against other decent teams, but how many games are they going to win without Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest? Reggie Miller was hot for a few games, but that's over now.

I'm not saying anyone's giving the Knicks a playoffs spot, but the stage is set. If the intensity stays high, so do the chances of a playoff berth. Philly isn't playing well.. they have a tough schedule. Indiana is simply not a good team with their players right now, and cannot hang on. Orlando is playing like they did last season. New Jersey is hot, but still only one loss ahead of us. As long as the Knicks keep pace with NJ and win those two critical head to head matchups, we're in excellent shape. Remember, we own the tiebreaker with Philly. These 4 games vs. Indy / NJ are MUST WINS. Two wins vs Indiana or NJ really equals three if it comes down to the tie breaker. The current series are both 1-1. Our conference record is currently much worse than NJ and Indiana, so we need to win the head to head matchups.

I think I covered everything contributing to my beliefs that the playoffs are likely in the Knicks future this year. Feel free to add any more positive words.

[Edited by - cazeek on 03/24/2005 17:18:52]

I'm with you on this. The opportunity is there. They just gotta execute, and judging by how they are playing, it really could happen.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Sure these games are winnable, but people severely underestimate how huge the home/road difference is. Check out most teams' home vs road records.

I'm not saying the home-road difference isn't evident, I'm saying it should not matter if they play the way they've been playing. It's shocking how huge the disparity between home and road losses is in the NBA, but I don't see losing road games as excusable. I understand it's a game of momentum, and the crowd provides some momentum, but if you're playing well, these silly factors shouldn't matter. We're playing bad teams, and losing because they're away games is not excusable. Games like Saturday @ Portland is a game the Knicks should win, and games like that are games they must win. I understand playing a team like San Antonio at home is a difficult game.. more difficult than on the road, but when the road games are against Portland, Golden State, and the Bucks, they are should/must wins.. I'd rather play 10 games against the Blazers in Portland than 10 against Miami or any decent team at home.

[Edited by - cazeek on 03/24/2005 18:16:51]

Im the biggest knick fan but i got to admit that i dont want the knicks to go to the playoffs. if we go to the playoffs we are prolly gonna be there no longer than 4 to 5 games. plus we lose our 1st rounder. i dont wanna have next season be a duplicate of this one. we need some to rebulid a little and losing that pick doesnt help.

Posted by knicks1248:

I would rather see the knicks play in late april and early may then to see us pick up a 13th pick. Were going to obviously get better through trades more so then draft picks.

no. it has to be the draft.

but we don't lose our pick if we make the playoffs. this year, the pick is protected up to no. 26, which means we get our pick no matter what. With this draft, I don't think there's a ton of difference between the 11th pick and the 15th pick, except the 15th pick doesn't have a 2.5% chance of winning the lotto like the 11th pick does. I think it would be worth giving up that chance to make the playoffs and generate some momentum going into next year. Then, we can look at this as a more or less successful season (developing Craw, Airza and Sweets, stocking the bench with JYD and Rose, getting picks for Nazr) that had one AWFUL stretch (January to mid-Feb). I'd be okay with that.

go knicks.