Setting up the Final Week

We hit a grab bag of topics with four games remaining in the regular season.

Good morning! We’re going to bounce around a number of different topics today as I attempt to set us up for the final six days (and four games) of the regular season, starting with a game preview, and followed by deep dives on the remaining schedule, various playoff possibilities, and a look at how Thibs is likely to stagger the bench minutes.

Game Night

TONIGHT: Knicks at Bulls, 8:00 pm, MSG Network

Injury Report: Bojan Bogdanovic is probable with his wrist sprain. For the Bulls, Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu are questionable while Coby White is probable.

Halftime Zoom: Here’s the link.

What to watch for: The Knicks are 27-5 against teams currently under .500. Only Boston (30-3), Denver (27-4) and the Clippers (26-4) have fared better, with Dallas equalling New York’s mark.

Those five losses have come against Utah, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta and Chicago; aka, no repeat customers. Hopefully that trend keeps up tonight against the Bulls tonight and again on Sunday.

The stakes now are simple: if the Knicks can win the rest of their games against sub-.500 teams, they will win 49 games and be no worse than 4th in the Eastern conference. If they can add in a win against the Celtics, they’d get to 50 wins for just the 14th time in franchise history.

On that note, let’s take a closer look at what lies in store for the rest of the regular season, starting with the final four opponents...

The Remaining Schedule

🏀 Chicago (4/9 & 4/14): The only new news here is that Alex Caruso missed Sunday’s loss to the Magic due to the ankle injury he suffered late in their win over the Knicks on Friday night. Chicago’s defense goes from the equivalent of the NBA’s second best unit when Caruso plays to the equivalent of the 24th ranked unit when he sits, so whether he suits up tonight is kind of a big deal.

Beyond that, there’s reason to believe the Bulls will be able to rest their regulars on the final day of the regular season. After playing New York tonight, Chicago faces off against the Wizards and Pistons. Washington has lost six of seven while Detroit has dropped 12 of 13.

The Bulls are currently a game ahead of the Hawks for home court advantage in the 9/10 play-in game, and they own the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-1 season series win. Even if Chicago loses to the Knicks tonight, presuming they can take care of business against the dregs of the NBA, the Hawks would need to win their next three games for the final Sunday to matter.

Atlanta’s next three games: vs Miami, vs Charlotte and at Minnesota. In other words, Chicago may have its play-in position set by next weekend.

The Bulls may not care about rest because their play-in game won’t be until Wednesday, April 17, but their guys have been pushing hard for the entire season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 34-year-old DeMar DeRozan took a breather.