It’s understandable, given the newness and confusion of the tiebreakers, that the Knicks didn’t quite grasp what happens next in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
It’s new for everybody, after all.
So after they easily handled the Hornets on Tuesday, 115-91, to clinch a spot in the next round, the players were celebrating a trip to Las Vegas that wasn’t happening.
At least not yet.
“We were saying we’re going to Vegas, like when you say you’re going to Disney World after you win the Super Bowl,” Immanuel Quickley said.
Instead, the Knicks (10-7) are going to Milwaukee on Tuesday night for the quarterfinals.
Coach Tom Thibodeau brought in a Knicks analytics specialist to break the news.
“We didn’t boo him,” Quickley said. “That’s our guy.”
At the end of a chaotic final day of pool play, the Knicks finished second in Group B and took the wild-card spot in the East, ensuring a road game in the quarterfinals.
And if they win against the Bucks, they’ll get to celebrate that Vegas trip for real in the semifinals.
Then there’s a chance for the $500,000 top prize per player and an expensive luxury item for Josh Hart.
“I can get a new watch,” the Knicks’ forward said. “I love watches, so hopefully it adds to the watch collection.”
The Knicks, as it turned out, needed almost every point to clinch their spot on point differential.
And Thibodeau, despite declarations that he only cared about the victory, coached with the goal of running up the score.
Even with his lead reaching 26 points in the final minutes, he kept in leading scorers Juliius Randle (25 points, 20 rebounds) and Quickley (23 points). Randle’s impressive performance occurred on his 29th birthday.
He’s the eldest player in the Knicks’ rotation, and he’s excited about the chance to win $500K — especially for his teammates on lesser salaries at the end of the bench.
“From a money standpoint, 500K is a lot to anybody. It’s a lot of money,” Randle said. “I don’t care what anybody says. But for the guys that are not making as much, it’s a big deal. We definitely want to win it for them. They put a lot into this.”
Hart, fresh off complaining about his stagnant role in the offense, was more active Tuesday and dropped a season-high 17 points, shooting an impressive 7-for-10.
“Just being aggressive. Being confident,” Hart said. “I was going and trying to get into the mix early and trying to get back to how I normally play.
“Just making quick decisions,” Hart added. “I think that was the biggest thing was just whether I was open or whether the shooter drove or swing the ball. Stuff like that. Just making quick decisions, not trying to be too calculated and just play.”
It was a bad omen for the Hornets that their coach, Steve Clifford, was inside a local CVS purchasing cold remedies less than four hours before tipoff.
“Under the weather,” he said on the way out, as The Post bought trail mix. “Better stay away, there’s something going around our team.”
Indeed, the Hornets are an afflicted group, most notably with the injury bug. Their biggest star — LaMelo Ball — was the latest to succumb and missed Tuesday’s game at MSG because of a severe ankle sprain sustained two nights earlier.
Charlotte (5-11) couldn’t keep up with the motivated Knicks, who came out firing.
The home team led by 16 in the first quarter, taking advantage of the Hornets’ lack of offense without Ball.
Then they piled it on in the end, believing — wrongfully — that a flight to Vegas was assured.
The Knicks need one more win for that.
And three more wins to win the title.
