The Knicks have clinched at least the seventh seed in the playoffs, officially ending their eight-year drought, but with a win over the Lakers and a Celtics loss on Tuesday night, and New York will officially avoid the play-in tournament.
With the Knicks looking to head into the postseason with home court in the first round, an idea that would have sounded like lunacy to most before the season began, the question lingers: can this team win a playoff series?
Derek Harper, who knows what it's like to make a playoff run in New York, thinks this year's team needs to find another gear on the offensive end to make it happen, but it's certainly possible for a team that has continued to surprise.
"I don't know if they have it, but I think the gear they need would be an offensive gear," Harper told Moose & Maggie on Tuesday. "The challenge in a seven game series is whether or not you can score when you really need to down the stretch. They're going to be in some wars in the playoffs."
The Knicks showed an ability to do just that on Sunday, getting clutch buckets from Julius Randle late in the fourth quarter to hold off the playoff-bound Clippers on the road, securing New York's biggest win of the season. That provided another piece of evidence for Harper that the Knicks have what it takes to get out of the first round.
"They have an All-Star in Randle, Derrick Rose has played like an All-Star the second half of the season, and I think they can," Harper said. "They're already a team that has certain intangibles that it takes to win in the playoffs."
Harper was a key piece to the Knicks' 1994 Eastern Conference championship team that came one win short of delivering a title that the franchise still craves. The team has made just one trip to the Finals since then and has won just one playoff series in the last two decades. But he believes this group can at least lay the groundwork for what could eventually lead to a return to glory.
"I think the key is to get one win," Harper said. "It's been so long and I think there's a mental aspect that can come into play, but once they get that first win, their confidence grows, and if Randle can continue to do what he's doing, Bullock had been really good shooting the basketball, so I think they're ready for it."
Randle has been the face of the team's unthinkable success, providing one of the greatest one-year improvements the game has ever seen, and Harper believes Randle's new head coach is a key part of the 26-year-old's turnaround.
"He's always had ability," Harper said. "I think he's been coached very well. I think coach Thibodeau has slowed his mind down, and once you slow your mind down and have a certain skillset, if you look at the threes he's taking, they're good threes. He's just more confident. He's clearly worked on his outside game and his outside shot. He clearly looks like an All-Star."
By slowing the game down, Randle has emerged as a legitimate All-NBA candidate, but more importantly, put the Knicks in a position to win a playoff series for the first time since 2013.
"He plays with a different demeanor than I've seen him play with in the past," Harper said. "Everything was hurry, hurry, hurry, now if you watch him, there's a little bit of a methodical approach to what he's doing. The guy is right at the top of the assist board. That's what's surprised me the most….the ball is in his hand a large percentage of the time, but you wouldn't know it."
Follow WFAN's midday team on Twitter: @MandMWFAN, @MarcMalusis, and @MaggieGray
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
