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It's crazy, but tonight's Knicks-Bobcats game actually means something for both teams. As we went over last night, the Knicks will clinch the seventh seed if they win. If they lose, then a Sixers win would drop them to eighth. The Bobcats, meanwhile, are playing to avoid the worst winning percentage ever in NBA history. So, even though the Knicks were gracious enough to grant Charlotte one of their seven victories, the Cats'll be motivated to win tonight.
That said, the Knicks aren't going to be fully staffed for this one. They'll travel straight from Charlotte to either Miami or Chicago, and the first playoff game in either of those cities will be on Saturday or Sunday. The top dawgs could use an extra day of rest, and they'll get it (or, if you want to call it tanking, go for it). According to Ian Begley of ESPN, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Baron Davis will either play very few minutes or just take the whole night off. That being the case, here's my suggestion/guess (sugguesstion!) for New York's rotation:
Starting five:
Mike Bibby
Iman Shumpert
Landry Fields
Steve Novak
DAN GADZURIC, GENTLEMAN OF THE PAINT, PRINCE OF THE BACKBOARD
Bench:
J.R. Smith
Josh Harrellson
Jerome Jordan
Jim Todd (just to keep the "J" thing going)
Vincent, Toney Douglas's blanket
Toney Douglas
An olive
The objective: Break the Knicks' individual record for made threes in a game. Latrell Sprewell and Toney are tied with nine. No reason that can't be surpassed tonight. If the Bobcats win, they win. This one should be fun. Just don't get hurt, Knicks. If any of y'all get hurt, I'm going to break your legs.