The Knicks didn’t come out resembling a team seeking to finally secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, instead looking like a gassed one playing the tail end of back-to-back games following an eight-day road trip.
But like they have done throughout this season, the Knicks clawed back from a sizable first-half hole and overran the eliminated Nets in the second half for a 111-107 victory to clinch no worse than the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Tom Thibodeau’s team (49-32) still has a chance to steal the No. 2 spot in the East with a win Sunday over the Bulls and losses by the Bucks in each of their final two games.
They also would sew up the No. 3 seed with a win Sunday in their regular-season finale, but a loss could push them down to the No. 4 position in a three-way tiebreaker scenario with the Bucks and the Cavaliers.
Jalen Brunson overcame a sluggish first half to post a team-high 30 points, including two game-sealing free throws with 4.1 seconds left after a hard-foul by Cam Thomas.
OG Anunoby scored all 15 of his points after halftime for the Knicks, who swept the four-game season series with their Brooklyn-based rivals.
Mitchell Robinson also thwarted the Nets’ late “hack-a-Mitch” strategy by sinking 5 of 8 free throws in the closing minutes.
to the Knicks on Friday. Charles Wenzelberg
The Knicks, who outscored Brooklyn 30-13 in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 17 in the second, improved to a staggering 19-3 in 22 games since Anunoby was acquired in late December in a deal that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors.
