With 20 games remaining, the skidding Knicks suddenly find themselves in a five-team dogfight just to avoid a play-in position in the Eastern Conference.
The next three games for coach Tom Thibodeau’s shorthanded squad will come against teams within that cluster, with Friday’s home matchup against the Magic followed by consecutive games Sunday and Tuesday — both also at the Garden — against the 76ers.
With both of those teams in action Wednesday night, the Knicks (36-26) slipped into fifth place in the East, a half-game behind the Magic, who handed the free-falling Wizards their 16th straight defeat.
The Knicks remain a half-game ahead of the sixth-place Heat, and they’re now one game ahead of the Sixers, who blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost at home to the Grizzlies.
“Sometimes when it pops up, but I’m not thinking about too much,” Josh Hart said when asked after Tuesday’s loss to the Hawks if he’s been scoreboard watching. “At the end of the day, I feel if this team gets healthy, we can make noise. Obviously, you don’t want to be in the play-in. You’d like to have that three or five days of rest going into the first round.
“It’s a cliché Thibs thing, but we’re just trying to take it one day at a time. Obviously, we’re going to get guys back soon but we have to keep pushing. At the end of the day, we are where we are, and I like this team.”
Jalen Brunson has missed all but 47 seconds of the past two games with a left knee contusion.
But Thibodeau said before Tuesday’s game that the All-Star point guard’s MRI exam came back “clean,” and the injury was “a lot better than it was” when he sustained the injury Sunday in Cleveland.
Miles McBride, who has played nearly 93 minutes over the past two games with Brunson sidelined, also claimed to be avoiding watching the standings. The Heat also are a half-game behind the Knicks with one more head-to-head meeting remaining (April 2 in Miami) and the Pacers are 1 ¹/₂ games back.
“Honestly, no. It’s hard just to keep up with it,” McBride said. “Just gotta take it a game at a time.”
The Knicks are hoping Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow surgery) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) all can make it back to the lineup before the regular season ends.
“You don’t want to see any of your players get hurt,” Thibodeau said Tuesday. “I know the commitment that our guys have made, the sacrifices they’ve made.
“Obviously, you want to be at full strength. But injuries are part of the game and it’s: How quickly can we adapt as a team? That’s the challenge that we face.”
Veteran big man Taj Gibson, who appeared in 15 games over two stints with the Knicks earlier this season, has agreed to a 10-day contract with the Pistons, ESPN reported.
The 38-year-old Gibson — who also played for Thibodeau with the Bulls, Timberwolves and the Knicks earlier in his career — was re-signed by the Knicks in December after Robinson had ankle surgery.
Gibson was waived in January but came back on two 10-day contracts in February.