The scoring output was tied for the third-most in a single game in franchise history, but, despite taking a late lead, the Knicks couldn’t slow down the red-hot Timberwolves’ offense, which was without leading scorers Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak, and left the Knicks in a precarious position in the standings. The Knicks are nearly equidistant from both the No. 4-seeded Cavaliers and the Heat in the No. 7 seed — and play-in tournament — as the battle for playoff positioning gets set to reach a crescendo in the final stretch of the regular season.With a win, the Knicks would find themselves four games above the Heat and the play-in cutoff and in strong position to solidify themselves in the top-six seeds over the final eight games.
“But we’ve been really good this year at just taking it one game at a time. It’s a long season, which is hard to do. But I think that’s one of our better traits. As well as us being dogs on the floor, we’re really good at taking the season one day at a time and just trying to get better.” The Knicks and Heat play each other again March 29. Other than the two games against Miami and one game against Cleveland, the Knicks’ other six games to close the regular season are against struggling teams currently outside the playoff picture.“We don’t change, I think that’s important,” Thibodeau said on Monday. “If you haven’t been doing the right things all along and you’re trying to catch up now, it’s too late.