NEW YORK — Tom Thibodeau never skips a step. He often speaks as if giving a play-by-play of a staircase ascension.
“The first part was clinching the play-in, then the playoffs, and now the highest seed possible,” the coach said.
Thursday night was a horizontal movement in Step 3. The Knicks handled their business by beating the Spurs, 102-98, with Alec Burks re-emerging for a spectacular season-high 30 points.
But the teams directly ahead in the standings — the Hawks and Heat — also won Thursday, so the Knicks needed to topple Gregg Popovich’s squad to keep pace. They recovered from a 17-point third-quarter deficit and needed four clutch foul shots from Burks and RJ Barrett to seal the win in the final eight seconds.
Another gritty victory for the Knicks (39-31) in a season full of them.
Their ideal playoff matchup, just based on history, is the Hawks. Julius Randle labeled that potential series “nice” and has good reason after his team swept the Hawks over three games this season and he averaged 37.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting 58%.
“It’d be nice. They’re a team we’ve beaten every time this year,” Randle said on ‘Victory the Podcast.’ “But they’re also a team that’s really good, so you can’t take them for granted.”
That’s still a possibility after Thursday’s comeback but the Knicks need help. The Hawks (40-31), who’ve won three straight, only need to beat the league-worst Rockets in their season finale Sunday to clinch the fourth or fifth seed. If the Heat (39-31) beat the Bucks and the terrible Pistons in its last two games, the Knicks are assured sixth seed and a first-round matchup against the Bucks or Nets.
That’s also assuming the Knicks win their two final games against the Hornets and Celtics.
In other words, the Knicks needed a victory Thursday and Burks came through. The backup guard, who missed the last three games with an ankle sprain, scored 16 in the fourth quarter, including consecutive treys after San Antonio tied the game at 90 with 3:36 remaining.
Burks’ performance was especially important because Derrick Rose, the team’s super sub, was a surprise scratch with a sprained ankle after being upgraded to probable earlier in the day. He was coming off Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Lakers, when Rose logged his most minutes in over two years.
But the Knicks always seem to plug the holes.
No matter how the playoff seeding shakes out, this is mostly just gravy — icing on the surprise part cake. The Knicks were never supposed to be in this position, not with their roster and history. They’ve exceeded all expectations while securing the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2013, with Thibodeau righting James Dolan’s Titanic.
That’s also worth acknowledging again — that the Knicks have gotten to Step 3.
“Having grown up in Connecticut and being here in the 90s with the Knicks and knowing what basketball means to this city, it’s great,” Thibodeau said. “I think the type of guys we have reflects what this city is all about. And so we try to make them proud and give them something they can cheer about.”
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