After losing to the Magic, the Knicks' loss count reached 40 games.
If the Knicks win all the rest of the regular season, or lose only one game, they still have a chance to lock in a 50% winning rate.
Then, they won the last game of five consecutive away games against the Bulls.
Then he restarted a winning streak. First, he returned to the home court and fought hard for four quarters, defeating the Wizards with difficulty.
Another away game, victory over the SuperSonics, a three-game winning streak, and the Knicks completely secured their eighth position in the Eastern Conference——
With this wave of winning streak, the Hawks, who were originally eighth in the Eastern Conference, were one game behind the Knicks, and the Pacers, who were originally ninth in the Eastern Conference, were also two games behind.
Although both the Hawks and Pacers still have the possibility of taking the lead again, the initiative is now firmly in the hands of the Knicks. As long as they don't lose in a row, it will be impossible for the Hawks and Pacers to complete the lead.
After three consecutive victories, the Knicks ushered in two consecutive home games. In the first home game, the Knicks lost to the Pistons, but the Hawks and Pacers also lost at the same time. The Knicks' leading advantage did not change.
After the winning streak ended, the Knicks played directly against the Hawks in their second home game.
The plot of this game was exactly the same as the previous two games. Lin Yu suppressed Joe Johnson, Josh Smith was like a headless fly and couldn't find his direction, and Al Horford was also under the Knicks' interior-focused defensive system.
Completely misfiring.
With another victory, the Knicks extended the winning gap between them and the Hawks to two games.
With only the last two games left in the season, the Knicks have the better record against the Hawks and the Pacers this season. The two-win advantage has helped the Knicks secure a playoff qualification.
With this wave of 4 wins and 1 loss at the end of the season, the Knicks have also closed the gap between them and the 76ers, from the previous three wins to two.
The two teams have another chance to play directly against each other.
In other words, the Knicks still have a theoretical chance to surpass the 76ers and enter the top seven.
However, this opportunity is more demanding.
First of all, the Knicks must win two consecutive games in the remaining two games. Secondly, the 76ers must lose both games. If all two conditions are met, the Knicks can be ranked ahead of the 76ers by virtue of their direct head-to-head record.
Otherwise, they will only enter the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
As for the Knicks' remaining two games, except for the 76ers in the last game, the opponent in the penultimate game is precisely the Celtics.
The 76ers are also very likely to lose two games in a row, because in addition to the Knicks in the last game, they will face the Lakers in the penultimate game.
Although the Lakers are strong, it cannot be said that they will definitely beat the 76ers.
But the problem is that at the end of the season, the 56-win Lakers still need to compete with the 55-win Hornets for the top spot in the Western Conference. This victory is crucial to the Lakers. As long as they win, the Lakers will be No. 1 in the Western Conference, and Kobe will also completely lock in this championship.
Regular season MVP honors this season.
When the two are combined, the Lakers will definitely try their best to win this game.
The 76ers will most likely lose to the Lakers, and in the last game of the season, once the Knicks defeat the 76ers, the Knicks will truly overtake them to seventh place.
I have to say that this world is so wonderful, even Lin Yu was feeling this.
"The Knicks are about to face the challenge from the Celtics at home. This game is very sensitive. From two aspects, if the Knicks win, they will retain the possibility of breaking into the top seven in the Eastern Conference. If they lose,
They can only enter the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference."
"Now, the 64-win Celtics have locked in the top spot in the Eastern Conference. In other words, this game gives the Celtics the opportunity to choose their opponents in the first round of the playoffs!"
"Who are they going to choose? The 76ers or the Knicks?"
The Celtics, who hold the option, quickly became the focus of discussion during this period, and everyone was discussing who they would choose.
"If the Celtics are not stupid, they will definitely choose the 76ers."
"So, let the Knicks win?"
"In a regular season that has nothing to do with rankings, if you lose, you lose. The only reasonable choice in the playoffs is to avoid the Knicks, who are in unbelievable form in the second half of the season!"
"As a Celtics fan, although I don't think the Celtics will lose to the Knicks, in comparison, the Knicks will be a more difficult opponent. Their strength has reached the level of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
, if we meet the Knicks in the first round, the Pistons or Magic in the second round, the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Lakers in the Finals, this playoff trip will be too difficult, so I also think that we should avoid it.
The Knicks made the right choice by choosing the 76ers."
"..."
According to the discussion on the Reddit forum, almost everyone believes that the Celtics should let go and lose this regular season, let the Knicks go to the top seven, and choose the 76ers as their opponents in the first round of the playoffs.
But on the media open day before the game, when interviewed by the media, the Celtics generals said unanimously: They will not give up any game, and they will not deliberately choose their opponents in the playoffs.
Be confident to defeat all opponents!
Paul Pierce's response also added: "After the failure of last season, we have made a lot of efforts, which has been reflected in our regular season record. We also firmly believe that this will be ours."
season!”
Danny Ainge, who was active in the second half of the season, also holds the same view: "This is a season that belongs to the Celtics. We work hard to make it perfect, so we will not do it for the so-called playoffs."
Give up a certain game depending on who the opponent is."
There is also Kevin Garnett, who has a similar view, but expresses it differently: "Choose an opponent? If it were me, I would choose the Knicks."
"Why choose the Knicks? Haha, indeed, they are very strong in the second half of the season, and China Lin is also one of them, but this is interesting. I hope that after we become the first in the regular season, we will also have a perfect season.
The journey to the playoffs, revenge against China Lin in the first round, revenge against LeBron James in the second round or the Eastern Conference finals, and finally win the cup in the finals!"
"Losing? It is impossible to lose. I have confidence in the Celtics this season. We are the strongest and no one can stop us from winning the cup!"
The other side, the chosen side.
Lin Yu was also interviewed before the game, and his answer was similar to Garnett's.
"The opponent in the playoffs? I don't care too much. I hope our first-round opponent will be the Celtics, but if we are unfortunate enough to beat them in this game and finally defeat the 76ers and enter the top seven, I'm fine with it.
Opinion."
In short, Lin Yu will let nature take its course and finish these two games at the end of the season. If he really enters the playoffs as seventh place, he will keep all the time-sensitive items and can advance to the second round to compete with the Cavaliers or
Celtic, go for it, if he can't get in, he won't force it.
Even if he will eventually watch the Celtics win the championship, Lin Yu can only rely on his future efforts to continue to prove how serious Danny Ainge's mistakes were.
Lin Yu can say to everyone: Danny Ainge’s mistake caused the Celtics to miss another dynasty!
In any case, the drama at the end of the season has added some excitement to the battle between the Knicks and Celtics.