The New York Knicks have been all over the map for much of this season, going from bad to worse to practically unwatchable. By early March, they held a miserable 21-40 record and drained the life out of even the most optimistic fans. It appeared they were simply too far back to gain ground to make the playoffs at that point of the season.
But then again, we are talking about one of the most comical conferences the league has seen in a long time, and that was apparently enough to get this bunch to go on one last, desperate run.
It took an eight-game winning streak – mostly against sub-.500 teams – and the return of Amare Stoudemire to the starting lineup for the Knicks to finally get back into serious playoff contention. By March 21, their record was elevated to 29-40 and trailing the Atlanta Hawks by just three games for the eighth seed. Then came two inexplicable losses against the Cleveland Cavaliers at home and Los Angeles Lakers on the road. Against the Lakers, they gave up a franchise-record 51 points in the third quarter. After beating the Sacramento Kings in the previous game, the Knicks are now trailing the Hawks by just 1 1/2 games.
Iman Shumpert, who missed the game against Cleveland due to flu-like symptoms, has been ill for much of the past week and has lost some weight in the process, but is finally starting to feel better:
Finally startin to feel like myself again. That virus was kickin my ass. Can’t wait to gain this weight back. Who’s cookin???? I’m hungry.
— Iman Shumpert I (@I_Am_Iman) March 28, 2014
Their schedule is arguably one of the toughest in the conference moving forward, but New York still has a slim chance of making the playoffs if the Hawks continue to implode, and Shumpert will have to play a big role on the defensive end to make sure that happens. It’s a long shot, but it’s still a shot.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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