By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – In all likelihood, the Knicks, as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, will be bound for South Beach and a date with the second-seeded Miami Heat this weekend in the first round of the playoffs.
That may be the likelihood, but it is not a certainty as the Knicks prepare to take on the Los Angeles Clippers at Madison Square Garden tonight in their home finale.
For as long as the No. 7 seed isn’t a certainty and the No. 6 seed, not to mention avoiding the Heat and Chicago Bulls in the first round, remains a possibility, that is what the Knicks’ focus will be on.
If the Knicks cannot get the No. 6 seed by Thursday’s game at Charlotte and someone needs rest, head coach Mike Woodson will likely oblige as he did for Tyson Chandler on Sunday in Atlanta. Otherwise, it’s full steam ahead these next two days as the Knicks try to improve their standing.
To earn the No. 6 seed over the Orlando Magic, the Knicks will need to beat the Clippers and win tomorrow night at the lowly Bobcats, while the Magic will need to lose at home to the Bobcats and at the playoff-bound Memphis Grizzlies Thursday.
As a point of reference, the Bobcats are 7-57 and are flirting with the worst winning percentage for a season in NBA history.
“We’re going after it. We’re going out to win the basketball games we have left, starting tonight with the Clippers and we’ll go from there,” Carmelo Anthony said Wednesday. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride (this season) for everybody, but most importantly, we got back on the right track. Everybody got focused and we started winning basketball games.”
The Knicks cannot worry about Orlando and have to worry about their own business first. Anthony leads the NBA in scoring in the month of April at 31 points per game over 11 outings, but most of that came with Amar’e Stoudemire on the shelf.
The chemistry did not seem to be there right away Friday in Cleveland. Stoudemire looked out of sorts until late in the game, while Anthony scored 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Sunday was a different story with Anthony going for 39, his fourth game of at least 33 in the last five outings, to go along with Stoudemire’s 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting at 12 rebounds.
Coming off that outing Sunday, Stoudemire and Anthony will be joined by the third member of the Knicks’ Big Three in Chandler. The Defensive Player of the Year candidate sat Sunday and will be coming off four days of rest tonight. Add those three to the backcourt of Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, and tonight should be better than a fair indication of what the playoff starting lineup will look like.
“We’ve been definitely jelling, the chemistry has been phenomenal for us, so taking that momentum to the postseason is going to be very, very key,” Stoudemire said. “We’re hungry. We made the playoffs last year and this year, we can do more. We’re ready to go.”
FREE THROWS
Twenty-three days after he had surgery to repair a slightly torn left meniscus suffered on March 24 against the Detroit Pistons, Jeremy Lin got shots up with a strength and conditioning coach on a side court away from the team towards the end of shootaround. His lateral and vertical movement could be described as ginger as he wore a sleeve on the knee. The original timetable of six weeks, which would expire after the first round of the playoffs is complete, has not changed. Woodson indicated that if the Knicks advance that far, he would think Lin could return. Sunday was the first time Lin jogged since surgery….After missing 13 games with a bulging disk in his lower back, Stoudemire has played twice. Stoudemire looked spry and very much into the groove against Atlanta. “I feel great, I feel really good,” Stoudemire said. “I’m just going out there and playing as hard as I can. I’m really trying to win ball games for my team. Whatever it takes to win.”….Recently-acquired free agent center Dan Gadzuric is expected to make his Knicks debut tonight in what amounts to a tryout for the playoff rotation. The former UCLA star most recently spent time in the NBA with the Warriors and Nets last season. He was signed as an insurance policy with Jared Jeffries sore right knee leaving his availability in question moving forward. Bill Walker was waived on Friday to make room for Gadzuric, who suited up Friday and Sunday, but did not see the floor.
Photo: Daily News
