Knicks have one more chance to pass existential Celtics test

The playoffs begin in less than two weeks. The Knicks are on track to face an opponent who will have the best player in the series (Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo) or a team (Pistons) that is 2-1 against them this season.The Knicks will be favored in either matchup, but their advantages on paper are fragile, following back-to-back postseasons that ended against lower-seeded teams. It is premature to pencil them into Round 2 for the third straight season, but it is impossible to ignore who will likely be waiting, who could stand in the way of the Knicks’ first conference finals appearance in a quarter century. And it is nearly impossible to imagine how that drought could end this spring, based on their performances in three games against the Celtics this season. “It’s obviously an ongoing process [trying to close the gap on the Celtics],” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Feb.

23 loss in Boston.“Their team is a well-oiled machine.

They’ve been together for a while and so we have to keep learning and getting better.” Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks (50-28) have another chance to inspire optimism before the postseason begins, to summon the strength of a true contender, to stand toe-to-toe and punch-for-punch with the defending champions.They have another chance to produce the most solid piece of evidence that they can hang with the elite, to prove the ceiling raised by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges can still be touched. “Every game is a test,” Thibodeau said following Sunday’s win against the Suns.

“[We need to] understand what we have to do to win.” The problematic matchup with Boston has been evident since opening night, when the Celtics tied an NBA record with 29 3-pointers.Boston (58-20) — which recently set the NBA’s single-season record for 3s — has torched the Knicks’ 24th-ranked perimeter defense for nearly 22 3s per game, making more than 45 percent of its attempts. Led by ...