The New York Knicks are surging as the NBA regular season enters its final three weeks.
The Knicks (47-25) seek their seventh consecutive victory when they host the revitalized New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
New York scored 77 second-half points in a 145-113 victory over visiting Washington Sunday, handing the Wizards their 16th consecutive loss.
“I didn’t even know it was six games in a row,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said after the latest victory. “You always try to think about where and how we can get better on both ends of the floor. I think we’re still improving, but I’ve got to give our guys credit.”
New York is third in Eastern Conference, a half-game behind second-place Boston and 2 1/2 games ahead of fourth-place Cleveland.
Brown said his team is “in a decent spot” seeding-wise, but added that even though it’s important to compete for the highest attainable seed, if the Knicks are as good as they believe they are, then seeding won’t make a difference in the playoffs.
“I’m a firm believer in your seeding doesn’t dictate who’s going to win at the end,” Brown said.
The Knicks, who defeated the Pelicans 130-125 on Dec. 29 in New Orleans, have taken advantage of some of the worst teams in the NBA during their winning streak. All of the opponents — Utah, Indiana (twice), Golden State, Brooklyn and Washington — have a losing record and, counting the Pacers twice, they were a combined 192 games below .500 going into Monday’s games.
New Orleans (25-47) also has a poor record, but it has been playing winning basketball for the last two months.
The Pelicans are 15-11 since defensive leader Herb Jones returned from an ankle injury Jan. 23, and that includes a 9-5 mark since starting point guard Dejounte Murray returned on Feb. 24 from a year-long absence due to Achilles surgery.
“We don’t want this to end,” Pelicans interim head coach James Borrego said. “We want to sprint through the finish line with momentum.”
New Orleans could be mathematically eliminated from contention for the play-in tournament as soon as this week, but its late-season surge has included five wins since the All-Star break against teams headed for the postseason — Philadelphia, Golden State, Toronto and the Clippers (twice).
The Pelicans had won seven consecutive home games before getting outscored 35-18 in the fourth quarter of a 111-106 loss to Cleveland on Saturday. The loss prevented New Orleans from sweeping a stretch of four home games in six days.
“It was a successful homestand,” Borrego said. “We’ve got to keep pounding, keep pushing, keep putting ourselves in these positions.”
The Pelicans, who have lost four of their last five away from home, are beginning a three-game road trip over four days.
“We’re going to get on the road and try to do some damage on the road,” Borrego said.
Murray has averaged 18.7 points, 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 10 games since returning while shooting 52.7% from the floor, 34.0% on 3-pointers and 84.2% from the foul line. Additionally, his competitiveness seems to have uplifted the entire team.
The game in New York will be the first between the Knicks and Pelicans since New Orleans traded reserve guard Jose Alvarado to his hometown team at the deadline.
