Knicks playoff seeding scenarios after clinching homecourt advantage in first round
With their win on Friday night, the Knicks clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the 2023-24 playoffs.
Everything else is still up in the air.
Here’s a look at the scenarios for the Knicks – and their potential opponents – entering the *final day of the regular season.
KNICKS FINISH SECOND
The Knicks (49-32) can finish with the No. 2 seed if they beat the Bulls on Sunday and Milwaukee (49-32) loses to Orlando.
KNICKS FINISH THIRD
The Knicks can finish third if they beat the Bulls on Sunday and Milwaukee beats Orlando. The Bucks own the head-to-head tiebreaker against New York.
The Knicks can also finish third if they lose on Sunday; they own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Cleveland (48-33).
KNICKS FINISH FOURTH
The Knicks would finish in fourth if they lose to Chicago on Sunday, Cleveland wins its finale and Milwaukee loses. This leaves New York in a three-way tie with Milwaukee and Cleveland. In this scenario, Cleveland wins the tiebreaker because it would finish the season as the Central Division champion. Milwaukee would finish ahead of New York because it won the season series against the Knicks.
The Knicks own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Cleveland but that tiebreaker wouldn’t apply in this three-way tie scenario. The first tiebreaker is the division winner. Cleveland would win the Central Division over Milwaukee due to having a better record against division opponents.
WHO WOULD THE KNICKS PLAY?
The bottom of the playoff standings is very much up in the air as well.
Indiana (46-35), Orlando (46-35) and Philadelphia (46-35) are currently in a three-way tie. If they all finish the season with the same record, Orlando would win the tiebreaker (division winner). The Pacers would then finish ahead of Philadelphia due to their head-to-head record.
For head-to-head tiebreakers: the Sixers own the season tiebreaker against Orlando. The Magic own the tiebreaker over Indiana.
HOW DOES PHILADELPHIA FINISH SIXTH?
The Sixers have a few pathways to the No. 6 seed. If they win, they’d need the Pacers or the Magic to lose in order to finish in sixth. If the Sixers and Pacers win on Sunday and the Magic lose, Philadelphia will also finish sixth in the conference. If the Sixers and Magic win on Sunday and the Pacers lose, the Sixers will finish fifth.
The Sixers can also finish in sixth if they lose, the Magic lose and the Pacers win. This would leave Indiana in fifth place; the Sixers would finish in sixth because they own the tiebreaker over Orlando.
What about the Heat? The Knicks would need to finish second in the East to set up a potential first-round series against Miami.
Miami can finish in seventh if they win on Sunday, the Sixers and Pacers also win and the Magic lose.
But an Orlando loss would leave the Knicks with the No. 3 seed.
The Heat will finish in eighth -- with a chance to play the Knicks -- if they lose to Toronto on Sunday. They will also finish in eighth if they beat Toronto and Philadelphia, and Orlando and Indiana win on Sunday. They will also finish in eighth if they beat Toronto and Philadelphia, and Orlando and Indiana win on Sunday.
Miami would end up facing New York in the first round if it won the 7-8 game in the Play-In Tournament.
Here are the games to watch on Sunday: Knicks vs. Bulls, Magic vs. Bucks, Pacers vs. Hawks, Hornets vs. Cavs, Heat vs. Raptors. All Eastern Conference games tip off at 1 pm EST. There are no games on Saturday.
