Culture of Hoops

New York Knicks earn 8th spot, Carmelo optimistic

Baller Mind Frame’s No Layups brings you the hottest NBA stories on the web mixed with personal opinion from our very own Aaron Lanton

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SQzo0dU9E[/youtube]

For at least the next day, the New York Knicks own the eighth spot all to themselves.

The Knicks’ 110-81 blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets combined with Atlanta’s loss to Chicago has Mike Woodson’s team in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by a slim .002 margin in winning percentage.

“It’s funny how things work, that we are in this situation right now having a chance to make the playoffs,” Carmelo Anthony said. “We control our own destiny. I am going to keep on saying that. We can’t worry about what Atlanta is doing or what anybody else is doing. We got to win basketball games.

“If we continue playing the way we’ve been playing, we’ll be there at the end of the season.”

Melo is technically wrong about the whole destiny thing but he’s right from the perspective that if the Knicks keep playing the way they did against the Nets, they will make the playoffs in my opinion.

The Knicks (33-43) might be in the eighth spot right now but they aren’t quite in the driver’s seat yet. Atlanta (32-42) currently owns the tiebreaker over the Knicks with a better conference record of 22-22. The Hawks have eight games remaining, all against Eastern Conference foes. ESPN

The Nets didn’t show up last night. They allowed the Knicks to build a 63-38 lead at halftime, and were never able to recover from the deficit. Both teams in the boroughs have issues with showing consistent efforts from game to game which doesn’t bode well for either once the playoffs come around.

Anthony was in good spirits after the game and gave credit to his teammates for being focused. In the other locker room, guys looked to the ceiling as they tried to explain why another lackluster performance was punched into the clock. The roles will reverse a few more times, and then, hopefully, we see some consistent play from these talented, underachieving teams. – AL

Featured image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.

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