The New York Knicks didn’t want to show the Detroit Pistons too much Thursday night in a potential preview of a first-round matchup in the NBA playoffs.
But the Knicks certainly could use a statement-type effort Friday night when they close their home schedule by hosting the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both teams will complete a back-to-back set after suffering road defeats Thursday night, when the Knicks fell to the Pistons 115-106 and the Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers 114-112.
The Knicks (50-30) could have clinched the third seed in the East with a win Thursday and will try again to do so on Friday. New York is one game ahead of the fourth-place Pacers (49-31) and has the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series 2 games to 1.
With the sixth-seeded Pistons their most likely playoff opponents, the Knicks treated Thursday’s clash as a glorified exhibition. Starters OG Anunoby (thumb), Josh Hart (knee) and Mitchell Robinson (maintenance following ankle surgery) sat out.
Jalen Brunson played his third straight game since returning from a 15-game absence due to sprained right ankle, though he played just 29 minutes, his smallest workload since Feb. 21 in a loss to the Cavaliers.
Brunson saw only a little more playing time than 39-year-old P.J. Tucker, who played 27 minutes in just his second appearance this season. Brunson scored 15 points.
“You’ve just got to be ready to play,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Whoever they have out there, whoever we have out there, that’s the challenge that you’re facing right now.”
The Cavaliers (63-17) also were in tune-up mode Thursday night, two nights after they clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Chicago Bulls 135-113.
Afterward, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledged he might provide some liberal rest down the stretch to key players, especially leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who suffered a sprained left ankle in a 120-113 loss Sunday to the Sacramento Kings.
“I’d rather him err on the side of caution,” Atkinson said Tuesday night.
Mitchell sat out his second straight game Thursday, when fellow starters Darius Garland (left toe), Evan Mobley (rest) and Max Strus (right knee) also were inactive.
Jarrett Allen, who made his 80th start in as many games, was joined in the lineup by reserves De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome, Sam Merrill and Dean Wade, who have made a combined 41 starts this season.
But even with the piece-meal lineup, the Cavaliers nearly overcame a six-point deficit in the final three minutes before Jaylon Tyson missed a potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer.
Even facing a diminished roster Friday would provide a valuable opportunity for the Knicks, who are 0-3 against Cleveland this season and 1-10 combined against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets, who have the four best records in the league.
Eight of those defeats have been by at least 10 points, including the Knicks’ two most recent losses to the Cavaliers — Feb. 21, when Cleveland rolled to a 142-105 win, and April 2, when New York fell 124-105.
–Field Level Media
