If the Knicks can’t go to the playoffs, then they hope they can play a part in making sure the Nets and other contenders don’t either. Spoilers, thy name is Knicks.
“We don’t have a chance of making the playoffs. We know that,” the Knicks’ Jason Smith said Tuesday after practice in Tarrytown. “We want to make sure that other teams don’t really get that chance either, especially Brooklyn, our hometown rival.”
Of course, they could always just take their ball and go home Wednesday at the Garden, where the rivalry that once was viewed as a fight for city bragging rights now is a way for the Knicks to feel what an important April game feels like, even if the importance is for the other team. The Knicks have lost 60 games for the first time in franchise history — including the past seven.
“It’s important for us to play these types of teams that are still in contention,” Lou Amundson said. “This time of the season, you either get teams that have already solidified their standings or are resting guys or not playing all that they would.
“But Brooklyn is fighting for contention, so they’re going to be bringing a game. That’s good for us. We have so many young guys, it’s important for those guys to experience, if it’s not playoff basketball, at least what this is like to be fighting for position, to be fighting for standings late in the season.”
And maybe screw up the other guys’ hopes while they’re at it.
“We could do that,” rookie Cleanthony Early said. “Things are already messed up. Let’s mess some other things up.”
Coach Derek Fisher, who rarely knew the feel of elimination before the playoffs in his career, shrugged off the motivation angle. But he stressed the importance of his team playing a game that isn’t just a go-through-the-motions affair.
“It does us a lot of good no matter what the results are of the game,” Fisher said. “It helps reinforce to our guys where we are and how far we have to go. At the same time, when they get the chance to compete against these teams, they see maybe we’re not as far from these guys as we thought coming into it.”
The Knicks are saddled with the worst record in the league (14-60). The Nets were just percentage points out of the eighth and final spot going into their game against the Pacers on Tuesday. There’s a gap.
“We use that as a lot of motivation,” Smith said of the Nets’ hopes. “We know that our season hasn’t gone the way that we wanted it to. But we also know that we’re playing a lot of teams that are positioning themselves for the playoffs.
“Brooklyn, especially, they’re trying to get into that playoff picture. They’re right there with Boston. We know that we can kind of be that spoiler. That gives us a lot of energy, motivation. We haven’t had [a good] season but we want to go out there and kind of ruin everybody else’s season, too.
“If we win, that puts them further out of the playoff picture.”
Even at a mere 46 games under .500, the Knicks have the right attitude.
“There’s always a motivation to go out there and win, regardless of the opponent,” Langston Galloway said. “I know they have a good shot to make the playoffs but … they are our crosstown rivals, so hey, we want to get a win.”
Fisher said Tim Hardaway Jr., who has missed eight games with a sprained right wrist, is doubtful to return Wednesday.
“Hopefully by this weekend maybe we can start to pinpoint him being back,” Fisher said. “But right now it’s probably not going to happen. We’ll see. Because it’s a right wrist injury he’s still having enough pain and discomfort to probably not be in a game. He’s not able to shoot the ball right-handed at this point. … We know he loves to shoot. He really needs to be able to shoot the ball to be able to play.”