Knicks clinch No. 3 seed but still blow 23-point lead in meaningless loss to resting Cavaliers

Get ready for the Pistons.The Knicks collapsed and lost again to a top opponent Friday night, 108-102 to the Cavaliers, but backed into clinching third seed and a first-round showdown with Detroit. With OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart returning after one-game absences, the Knicks squandered a 23-point early lead early and finished 0-10 against the best three NBA teams — Cleveland, Boston, OKC. That record will become at least the subhead of their regular season, which finishes Sunday in Brooklyn.At best, the Knicks will win 51 games — one more than last season. But for seeding purposes, Friday’s result held no consequences.

The Pacers were the only threat to jump the Knicks in the standings, and they were eliminated from consideration after sitting all their starters and getting pummeled Friday against Orlando.The Pistons then locked up the sixth seed by falling to the Bucks, just about 30 minutes before the final buzzer of Knicks-Cavs. After beating New York on Thursday night and winning the regular-season series, Detroit travels to MSG for Game 1 on either April 19th or 20th.It’s the first playoff series between the franchises since 1992 — which was won by the Knicks and headlined by Isiah Thomas versus Patrick Ewing. This season, the Pistons won three of four against the Knicks with Cade Cunningham going off for averages of 30.8 points and 8.3 assists.

Still, many of the Pistons have no playoff experience.The Knicks are the more experienced side and favored to advance, regardless of their disappointing finishes the last two nights — Friday especially. Jalen Brunson, playing both games of a back-to-back after Thursday’s defeat, was productive with 27 points.

But the other Knicks — Anunoby, Hart, Mikal Bridges — were either ineffective or unremarkable.The only notable inactive was Karl-Anthony Towns, who sat with a sore knee and was replaced in the starting lineup by Mitchell Robinson (33 minutes, eight points, seven rebounds)...

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Publisher: New York Post

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