The playoffs begin in less than two weeks.
The Knicks are on track to face an opponent who will have the best player in the series (Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo) or a team (Pistons) that is 2-1 against them this season.
The Knicks will be favored in either matchup, but their advantages on paper are fragile, following back-to-back postseasons that ended against lower-seeded teams.
It is premature to pencil them into Round 2 for the third straight season, but it is impossible to ignore who will likely be waiting, who could stand in the way of the Knicks’ first conference finals appearance in a quarter century.
And it is nearly impossible to imagine how that drought could end this spring, based on their performances in three games against the Celtics this season.
“It’s obviously an ongoing process [trying to close the gap on the Celtics],” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Feb. 23 loss in Boston. “Their team is a well-oiled machine. They’ve been together for a while and so we have to keep learning and getting better.”
Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks (50-28) have another chance to inspire optimism before the postseason begins, to summon the strength of a true contender, to stand toe-to-toe and punch-for-punch with the defending champions.
They have another chance to produce the most solid piece of evidence that they can hang with the elite, to prove the ceiling raised by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges can still be touched.
“Every game is a test,” Thibodeau said following Sunday’s win against the Suns. “[We need to] understand what we have to do to win.”
The problematic matchup with Boston has been evident since opening night, when the Celtics tied an NBA record with 29 3-pointers.
Boston (58-20) — which recently set the NBA’s single-season record for 3s — has torched the Knicks’ 24th-ranked perimeter defense for nearly 22 3s per game, making more than 45 percent of its attempts.
Led by Jayson Tatum — who is averaging 34 points, 7.7 assists and 6.7 rebounds against the Knicks this season — the Celtics have won the three matchups by an average of more than 17 points, while holding the Knicks below their season scoring average (116.1) in every contest.
The Knicks have won five of their past six games, but they have only won one of their past seven games against winning teams, falling to 12-19 against opponents over .500.
Boston has won 11 of its past 12 games and enters this game within reach of matching the league’s single-season record for road wins, having gone 32-7, with eight straight wins away from home.
The Celtics’ 23 road wins by double digits is one shy of the single-season record, which included a 131-104 win in New York on Feb. 8.
It has been nearly two years since the Knicks held serve at home against Boston.
“I would venture to say that our guys are good everywhere,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said last week. “It’s more about just playing consistent basketball. But I think each year you develop different kinds of strengths, especially with the same team. And this year it just happened to be our road mentality.”
The Knicks need one win in their final four regular-season games (or one Pacers loss) to clinch the No. 3 seed in the East.
More importantly, the Knicks need Jalen Brunson to shed the rust he showcased in Sunday’s win over the Suns, when the All-Star guard returned for his first game in a month and finished with 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.
Brunson, who missed 15 games with a sprained ankle, said he has never experienced a longer in-season absence, dating back as far as high school.
“I didn’t find any rhythm at all,” Brunson said after the game. “Timing is a part of it. That will come back. I think mentally just making sure that I can just trust myself in everything I do. Everyone always talks about the physical part about how you’re feeling, but mentally it’s just trusting it. Trusting your movement. Trusting the way you play and not second-guessing yourself. That was an adjustment, but I’m feeling a lot better.”
Thibodeau can be expected to treat tonight like a title bout. The champs may offer nothing more than a sparring session.
With the Celtics essentially locked into the No. 2 seed, Tatum (ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) sat out Sunday’s win over the Wizards.
Jaylen Brown has been on a minutes restriction since suffering a bone bruise in his knee, playing less than 27 minutes per game in his past seven starts.
