The Knicks' eight-game winning streak ended Sunday.
So too, may have any hope of the playoffs.
When the sun rose Sunday, the Knicks stood three games behind Atlanta for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Then Atlanta went out and lost.
So when the Knicks arrived at the Garden, some figured they were, essentially, two games behind the Hawks. No, not 2 ¹/₂ which they actually were. Two games. Hey, they had the Cavs at the Garden Sunday night, the Cavs without All-Star MVP Kyrie Irving. All that figuring was so wrong.
Right after coach Mike Woodson proclaimed the obvious that, with so little room for error, the Knicks "have to win," they blew a gift game that could have crippling playoff consequences. Jarrett Jack filled in for Irving and scored 31 points and the Knicks offense in the fourth quarter filled in for the ensemble cast of "The Walking Dead" in a 106-100 defeat.
The crushing basket came 24.7 seconds from the end when Jack, with the Cavs up two, worked against Raymond Felton, drove, stopped and hit from 10 feet for a 104-100 lead. On the Knicks next possession, Carmelo Anthony, who led all scorers with 32 points, was called for an offensive foul.
Game. Set. Match. Playoffs?
At times it looked easy, at times it looked like changing a tire with only kitchen utensils. And when the night ended, the Knicks were three games behind the Hawks, four in the loss column, with 12 to play. The Knicks were 5-of-18 shooting with five turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"You know it's good that they [Hawks] lose but again it's about what we do at this point. My focus is not on Atlanta or Charlotte [seventh place, four games ahead]. It's on the Knicks and how we're playing and competing," Woodson said before the game. "We've got to concentrate on one game at a time and handle our own business."
The Knicks showed some alarming defensive lapses throughout, like too many straight drives to the basket or a 9-0 Cavs run in the first 43 seconds of the second half. In the third quarter what once was a 17-point lead twice went to three. But they kept the Cavs, who got 22 points from Dion Waiters, at bay.
Until the fourth quarter. The offense, that shot over 70 percent in the opening quarter, went stagnant. A Luol Deng 3-pointer gave the Cavs their first lead since the initial quarter. After a J.R. Smith (18 points) score, Jack hit from 19 feet and the Cavs led, 95-94. That Smith score came at 6:01 and the Knicks next field goal came, also from Smith, at 1:05. That got the Knicks within 102-98 and two Anthony field goals at with 42.2 seconds left made it 102-100.
Anthony scored 14 of his 32 points in the first quarter when he made 6-of-7 shots, helping the Knicks to a ridiculous 71.4 quarter percentage. Suffice to say that shooting pace disappeared.
This was simply not a game the Knicks, who were without Iman Shumpert (flu-like symptoms, Shannon Brown got his time) could afford to let slip through their grasp. Consider they have an April schedule — after a five-game Western Conference road trip — containing seven games all against playoffs-bound teams.
"We don't want to rely on what Atlanta does," said Anthony. "We've got to focus on us."
Woodson estimates "35 to 40" wins will be necessary to get the Knicks in the playoffs.
"Anywhere from 35 to 40 will probably be the number that gets you in," Woodson said. "We can't lose. We've got to win every game. It's important we win every game."
Hey, might as well set your sights high.
"We just don't have any room for error," Woodson said. "We're trying to get in."
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