Ironically, the disappointing season for the New York Knicks took another devastating hit last night from actually winning a game.
It has been no secret over the past month fans have been hoping more for New York Knicks losses to finish out the regular season. The goal was to lose more while increasing the franchise's chances of winning a possible top five pick in the NBA Draft lottery. The Knicks headed into their final regular season game against the Philadelphia 76ers with a chance at the sixth worst record in the NBA with another loss.
The message must not have gotten across to the team correctly because the Knicks, surprisingly, were joined by star forward Carmelo Anthony in the lineup shortly before tipoff. In a thrilling finish, the Knicks pulled out a 114-113 victory in front of a spirited home sold out crowd.
Highlights from the #Knicks season ending victory over #MadeInPHILA #NYKvsPHI pic.twitter.com/ZAkPjETDxg
— Ed Easton Jr. (@EdEastonJr) April 13, 2017
The Knicks' victory puts them in a tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves at 31-51, dropping their chances at the No. 1 pick to 5.3 percent. A loss would have had garnered a 6.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick and a 21.5 percent chance at a top-three spot.
A possible selection in the top three would be prospect Markelle Fultz, who recently sat front row at a Knicks game. The Washington, D.C. native spoke with reporters about his thoughts on possibly being selected by the Knicks and playing in the triangle offense.
"I think I could play in any system, I'm very versatile, so it was cool to see that. It's a lot of openings and stuff like that, so that's why I came to see that in person. It would be amazing. It's close to home, My family can come out, and this is the greatest place to play, really, in New York — big stadium, a lot of good fans."
The chances of Fultz is available whenever the Knicks select are very slim, especially after the victory over Philadelphia. The victory was another reminder of the Knicks players and coach Jeff Hornacek not taking the tanking talk seriously and focusing on each game ahead of them.
Hornacek spoke to the media recently about not being used to playing out the string and reflected on the lost first season as Knicks head coach.
"I've been through a lot of seasons, and most of them when I was playing, we were in the playoffs, It's tough when you're not in the position to at least battle for it to try and keep the guys playing. But that's being professional: getting out there and giving it their best effort. You try to build. You're trying not to just end the season and play it out. You try and improve on things and keep working."
"In the NBA, it's hard to win. There are times when things fall into place and other times, for no matter what reason, they don't. You move on to next year and try and correct that."
Coach Jeff Hornacek reflects on his first #NBA season with the #Knicks pic.twitter.com/FDurK69R4X
— Ed Easton Jr. (@EdEastonJr) April 13, 2017
The Knicks will head into the offseason with plenty of questions outside of the Carmelo Anthony drama.
The latest win may really be looked back on as a loss if the ping pong balls don't go the team's way on May 16.
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