The Knicks began a four-game stretch against teams above.500 on Monday in Atlanta after going 0-5 against winning teams since March 6. josh hart claimed the team needed to stay "locked in and focused" after practice Sunday: "For us, I think it’s just making sure we’re locked in and focused."
Knicks recent results and March 6
The Knicks last beat a team above.500 on March 6 against the Nuggets in Denver; the club then went 0-5 against teams with winning records, all five losses on the road against the Lakers, Clippers, Hornets, Thunder and Rockets. Mike Brown said after those games, "You gotta give Charlotte, Oklahoma City and Houston credit, they played well," and added, "We didn’t play well in those three games and we deserved to lose, as much as you hate to say it."
Josh Hart's Remarks
Josh Hart, speaking after practice Sunday, repeated the short-term focus and framed the stretch as a test: "Obviously this is a good little stretch to end the season to make sure we’re as sharp as we can be going into the playoffs." Hart also said, "The past is the past, nothing you can do about it now," and urged a game-by-game approach: "Our focus is on tomorrow being 1-0 against playoff teams, and then we move on to the next one, and then we want to be 1-0, and then we want to move onto the next one and be 1-0."
Read Also: Knicks Vs Hawks: New York Visits Atlanta for Third- vs Fifth-Seed Clash
Landry Shamet, injuries and remaining opponents
Landry Shamet described the schedule as demanding and tied mentality to outcomes: "It’s a challenging stretch that not a lot of people talk about" and "This last stretch of the season, these last few games, you’re kind of gearing up for the playoffs, you know what you’re building for, but you gotta be here and locked in each night, each team, each challenge in front of you." The Knicks opened the four-game stretch in Atlanta and then have home games against the Celtics, Raptors and Hornets; all four remaining opponents are Eastern Conference playoff or play-in teams. The Knicks had a clean injury report for the game in Atlanta, while the Hawks' backup center Jock Landale was out for that matchup.
The tension for New York is clear in the numbers: the club has produced winning runs against sub-.500 opposition during the season, but the 0-5 run against higher-quality teams compresses what the final regular-season games will decide about playoff seeding and readiness. Mike Brown summed that contradiction when he said, "We did not play well in some areas," and added, "And hopefully we’ll play better going forward because we’ve got a couple of teams above.500, so we’ll see."
Returning to the human moment, Josh Hart closed his comments on process and urgency: "For us, I think it’s just making sure we’re locked in and focused" and "It’s about what we do moving forward that we’ll be judged on and what we judge ourselves on." That remained the Knicks' stated objective as they began their last four-game stretch against above-.500 opponents.
