ON THE CLOCK: Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks, who fell to Dwyane Wade and the Heat Sunday, must defeat the Celtics tonight at the Garden to maintain any hope of winning the Atlantic Division title. (Getty Images)
The lockout season began on Christmas with a dramatic victory over Boston, with the Knicks eyeing the Atlantic Division title and supplanting the hated Celtics.
After a nearly four-month roller coaster, the Knicks take one last stab tonight at dethroning the Celtics, one last play at their first Atlantic title in 18 years. A Garden loss tonight to “The Green” and interim coach Mike Woodson can put to rest the rhetoric regarding winning the division crown the Celts have owned four straight seasons.
The Knicks’ preseason goal hangs by a thread because of their loss to Miami Sunday that threw them 4 ½ games behind first-place Boston (36-25) with six to play. A victory tonight, though, would pull the Knicks (31-29) to within three games in the loss column behind Paul Pierce’s club and even the season series at 2-2, with the tiebreaker up for grabs.
An Atlantic title would give the Knicks a fourth seed and home court for the first round, allow them to avoid the Heat and Bulls and, as Woodson said, “give us a lot of better chance to get out of the first round.’’ It likely would also give Woodson his contract extension.
“As long as there’s still an opportunity to get there, until mathematically we’re not in it, we have to continue fighting for it,’’ Knicks center Tyson Chandler said. “It has to be a goal.’’
They probably have to run the table to do it, with the Nets, Cleveland, Atlanta, Clippers and Bobcats remaining on their regular-season slate. They are winnable games for the Knicks, especially the way they have defended under Woodson (13-5, 9-1 at home).
“We’re trying to win out,’’ rookie Iman Shumpert said. “We took a loss [to Miami], but we got to regroup and get Boston.’’
Woodson went on a rant Saturday on the division being up for grabs. Woodson knows his first NBA coach, Red Holzman, despised the Celtics like no other franchise.
But the Knicks still need to worry about holding on to their playoff spot, entering last night in eighth place, leading the ninth-place Bucks by two games and trailing the 76ers for seventh by one-half game. The Knicks get the Bulls if they finish at No. 8 and get Miami at 7.
If they can’t catch the Celtics, rising to No. 6 is possible, despite Orlando up four games before last night’s Magic-Sixers matchup. A sixth seed also avoids Miami and Chicago.
“Every game is a must-win,’’ J.R. Smith said. ‘Playing against Boston at home, they gave us a little beating up at their place (March 4). It’s a division title at stake. We have to go in and get a ‘W’. They’re playing well now for a quote-unquote older team. They’ve been playing unbelievable. They have three Hall of Famers, possibly four with [Rajon] Rondo. We have to come in and understand we’re in our house and can’t let anybody else come in here and win.’’
Raised in Freehold, N.J., Smith knows the significance of beating Boston.
Smith said as a Nugget, the only rivals were the Blazers and Lakers. “Playing for the Knicks, it’s Bulls, Heat and Boston,’’ Smith said. “The [Boston] rivalry is like no other,” he said. “It’s fun basketball, playoff atmosphere. If you don’t like this kind of basketball, you should go home.’’
The Knicks will be without Amar’e Stoudemire tonight for the 12th straight game. Though he hasn’t been ruled out for tomorrow in Newark, Stoudemire’s likelier return is Friday vs. Cleveland. That would give him four games to get back in game shape for the playoffs.
Sunday’s 93-85 loss to Miami underscored the Knicks’ need for another scorer to complement Carmelo Anthony, who bagged 42 points but wore down in missing five of his last six shots.
Without Stoudemire, Smith is the Knicks’ second scorer in Woodson’s anti-speedball offense. If Stoudemire can’t take the burden off Anthony and Smith, the Knicks are assuredly one-and-done, even with that defense.
Point guard Baron Davis said it’s on him to get more people involved and indicated a tricky balance in finding the Knicks’ identity. Other players thrived — Anthony did not — in former coach Mike D’Antoni’s speedball system, including Shumpert, the slumping Steve Novak and Landry Fields.
“Melo’s great for us in a halfcourt offense,’’ Davis said. “For the rest of us, we have to play at a better pace. It falls on my shoulders. I don’t have a problem with it — pushing the ball up and getting guys easy shots and getting us in a better offensive rhythm and get more guys involved.’’
Davis, too, has to mend by late April.
“The number one thing is to get healthy,’’ he said.