After clinching the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks are expected to sit a number of key players in their regular-season finale against the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
New York (53-28) has won five straight games and 12 of its past 15, including a 112-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Before opening their first-round series either next Saturday or Sunday, the Knicks will face a Charlotte team headed to the East’s play-in tournament.
The Hornets (43-38) saw their chances at a guaranteed playoff bid evaporate with a 118-100 home loss to the top-seeded Detroit Pistons on Friday. Charlotte has lost two straight following a four-game winning streak.
As a result, the Hornets will be locked outside of the top eight. With a win on Sunday, they will earn the ninth seed. If they lose and the Miami Heat win, the Hornets would slide down to 10th.
LaMelo Ball had 27 points and eight assists, and Brandon Miller added 22 points and four steals in Friday’s loss for the Hornets.
Charlotte allowed 62 points in the paint and was outscored 25-10 in the fourth quarter.
“(The Pistons) are good at being physical and getting to the paint,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “Offensively, we let some of their physicality bother us. Our screening was not physical enough, way too many guys going under. Not the group that I think we’ve been the last couple of weeks, and what we’ve built throughout the season.”
Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel scored 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the loss for the Hornets, who were outscored 27-12 on second-chance points.
“A night like this can really put things in perspective,” Charlotte forward Grant Williams said. “I thought that we could have upped our physicality. Rather than us rallying together and understanding that 10 points is nothing in the NBA, I think we went the opposite way. I think the group just didn’t necessarily commit to understanding that.”
Knueppel made two 3-pointers in the loss and became the 13th NBA player with at least 270 3-pointers in a season.
The Hornets defeated New York 114-103 in their last meeting in Charlotte on March 26.
New York won its seventh straight home game on Friday and impressed Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic in the process.
“(The Knicks) have a lot of depth. They’re an elite offensive rebounding team. They have an amazing closer in (Jalen) Brunson. They have an amazing shooter and rebounder and playmaker in Karl-Anthony Towns,” Rajakovic said. “I can talk about their roster and how well they’ve played for a long time. They’re an elite, elite team.”
Brunson scored 29 points, and Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the Knicks complete a season sweep (5-0) against the Raptors and improve to 30-9 at home this season.
New York shot 54.7 percent from the field and outscored Toronto 58-40 in the paint.
“Tonight was a good night to show our improvement as a team,” Towns said. “Things we can be better at, but I think that right now confidence is high, morale is great in the locker room. It feels good to step into Sunday with that kind of momentum.”
One area of concern is the status of forward OG Anunoby, who exited the game midway through the second quarter with an injured left ankle and did not return.
Anunoby will rest on Sunday as the Knicks focus on their first-round matchup. The Knicks have about a week for Anunoby to recover before facing the East’s No. 6 seed.
