After a road trip where they mixed embarrassing losses to the Lakers and Suns with solid wins over the Kings, Warriors and Jazz and smoking the Nets 110-81 at MSG last night, the left-for-dead Knicks are technically holders of the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. The Knicks' recent play—good for twelve wins in their last fifteen games—has them at 33-43, good for a 0.434 winning percentage, 0.002 better than the imploding Atlanta Hawks with six games left in the regular season.
What's changed? Quite a bit. JR Smith, who has improved every month this season, is finally playing as well as he did last year. Smith averaged 15.5 points on 45% shooting and 40% from three during sixteen games in March and started April off right with 24, eight boards and six assists against the Nets. His nine threes - tying a team record - in the Knicks' win against Sacramento were the reason they won and his accuracy and playmaking have been key to their recent strong play.
Amar'e Stoudemire has flourished since being inserted into the starting lineup and had an impressive March as well, averaging 16.9 points a game during the month, easily his best since 2011-12. On top of that, Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert have both been better of late. Shumpert showed what he's capable of against the Nets, coming off the bench to score ten points and harass Deron Williams on his way to five steals in just 24 minutes.
Not only that but Tim Hardaway, averaging 10.1 points a game, hasn't hit any sort of a rookie wall. He's continuing to show his range off the dribble, his mid-range game and an impressive ability to finish in transition. He had seventeen points on 7-10 shooting against the Nets, prompting ESPN analyst and former Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy to wonder during the telecast whether he ought to be considered for rookie of the year. He won't win but the Knicks are no doubt confident they found themselves a player in Hardaway the Younger.
All that has let Carmelo Anthony (who, per ESPN's Marc Stein, is on the verge of becoming the first player to average more than 28 points and eight rebounds per game since Shaquille O'Neal did it for the Lakers) play his game without trying to do too much and has even allowed the Knicks to win a game or two when he hasn't been his best. And even Raymond Felton got in on the action, holding Steph Curry to just 32 points in the Knicks' win over the Warriors (that's not exactly right, but he did harass Curry into a turnover on what could have been a chance for the Warriors to win the game in the closing seconds).
But it isn't just that the Knicks are playing better against a relatively soft schedule, the Hawks are crumbling and the Eastern Conference is so bad that one or more teams with a losing record is going to make the playoffs. No, it's that the Knicks are finally playing the way they should: with nothing to lose.
Give up 51 points in the third quarter to an awful Laker team? Shrug it off and win the next one (they did). Get eradicated in transition by Goran Dragic and the Suns? No big deal, win the next one (they did). Feel like playing zone? Go for it (they stink at it, but still). Decide to finally start Chandler, Stoudemire, Anthony and Smith together and see what the hell happens? Why not. Play Carmelo Anthony at center? Sure (they did it against the Nets and had no problem holding their lead).
Mike Woodson is a lame duck coach doing whatever the hell he feels like. The players are playing loose for the first time since they were up 3-0 against Boston in last year's playoffs. The fans, after reaching a point so low only Phil Jackson could reenergize them, are kinda-sorta-almost-cautiously optimistic. At a minimum, everyone is having a good time on game nights again.
It's not often a team with championship aspirations finds itself on an unexpected trip to the postseason but with just six games to go this year's Knicks are on the verge of just that. What's the worst that could happen?
You can follow Jonathan Fishner on Twitter @therealkingfish, and check out his blog The Real King Fish.
