THANKS CRAZY-mon!
WOW! Knicks are on fire. What a game that was last night. Haven't enjoyed a game like that, vs a team like that, in a LONG TIME. Without Amar'e & Lin, who expected that blowout?
When I was looking at the final 23 games, I split the remaining part of the schedule into 3 acts: 7-11-5. The first act was a stretch of 7 "winnable" games, & then that was followed by a tough 11 game gauntlet, before finally concluding with an "easy" 5 game run to end the season. I set par as 5-2, then 6-5, then 4-1. Thought 15-8 was within reason, if I was setting the bar of expectation.
Now, while I felt par would get the Knicks into the playoffs (as long as they beat MIL twice)... I was sure that NY would need to do more if they were going to catch BOS or PHI.
Well, the Knicks went 6-1 in the first act! Not perfect but better than par. They've also started the brutal 11 game stretch w/ an impressive, confidence-building victory last night.
Here's NYK's remaining 15 games:
@ATL, CLE, @INDY, @ORL, CHI, @CHI, @MIL, WAS, MIA, BOS, @NJ, @CLE, @ATL, LAC, @CHA.
Sure, Knicks have CHI (twice), MIA & BOS. At least 3 of those 4 games are home at MSG. Still, 2-2 would be great. 1-3 probably what we shoud expect there though.
Knicks play at ATL (twice), at ORL, at MIL & at INDY. 5 semi-tough games. 3-2 is par, although if we go 1-3 against the best of what's left, we better go 4-1. The 2 CLE games, NJ, WAS, LAC, CHA should be 6 gimme wins. CLE plays us tough though, so I'll set par at 5-1.
9-6 is par. This will ensure we get into the playoffs. But this wont get us the 4-6 seed. I post this: If we breeze through our easy 6 games, go 4-1 in the semi-tough & draw a split in those 4 tough battles... If we manage to finish season on a 12-3 run... WE WILL CATCH BOS & PHI and finish with the 4th seed! Let's do it.
Amar'e out might be a blessing. Woodson has been fantastic. We need Jeffries back soon to fill in for STAT. Get Davis into better game shape as well. Knicks are deep, we can survive. Get healthy is the key though. So make sure Chandler, Melo, Amar'e, Lin, Davis and the rest ae ready to go come May.