The New York Knicks are looking to avoid falling into the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference. Two weeks ago, their standing looked iffy as they were treading water because of injuries to key players. Fast forward to today, and they have done an excellent job of stabilizing.
New York is only 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for third place in the East, one game behind in the loss column. Riding a four-game winning streak, the Knicks are riding momentum heading into the final contest of their four-game road trip.
They will be heading to the high altitude to play against the Denver Nuggets in their getaway game. It will be a tough matchup for New York, as the defender NBA champions are in a dogfight for first place in the Western Conference as well.
The tallest task for the Knicks will be figuring out a way to slow down two-time MVP, Nikola Jokic. In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Jokic scored 31 points with 11 rebounds and three assists.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Josh Hart, Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks Updates
He was the only player to get going for Denver, who lost the game 122-84 back on January 25th. Jokic shot 13-of-18 from the field, as Aaron Gordon was the only other Nuggets player to score in double-figures.
Prior to the game on Thursday night, Knicks’ guard Josh Hart was asked what the team’s strategy was in slowing Jokic down. Hart, always the comedian, provided a hilarious response to the question. “Pray,” Hart said, via Fred Katz of The Athletic.
That is certainly one way to try and slow Jokic down, as the Knicks are going to have their hands full stopping him; they can only hope to contain him. Replicating their game plan from the first meeting would be a good place to start, as Denver’s worst loss in the 2023-24 NBA regular season came on that evening.
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