The Knicks have officially avoided the NBA play-in scenarios for the second straight year.
Tom Thibodeau’s team clinched a spot in the top six playoffs in the Eastern Conference when the Heat lost to the Mavericks in Miami on Wednesday night.
The Knicks, who have three games remaining in the regular season that begins Thursday in Boston, can still finish second to sixth in the East.
Those spots are separated by just three games, with the third-place Knicks 1 ¹/₂ behind No. 2 Milwaukee and the same distance ahead of No. 5 Orlando and No. 6 Indiana.
“Same mentality. Same approach,” Jalen Brunson said after Tuesday’s win in Chicago. “I just think as we get closer to the end of the season, we’ve talked about not racing towards the finish line, but just racing towards it. So we have to make sure we play as hard as possible, improving every single day. And we need to make sure our minds are ready to go.