The Knicks weren’t in action Wednesday night, but they still emerged as one of the Eastern Conference’s biggest winners of the day.
By virtue of the Celtics’ 102-94 loss to the Cavaliers, the Knicks clinched one of the top six seeds in the East. Boston was the only team that could have pushed the Knicks into the play-in tournament, but without Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, it fell to a Cleveland team that was on an 11-game losing streak.
The trip to the playoffs marks the first for the Knicks since the 2012-13 season when they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals. At that time, Mike Woodson was the coach, Carmelo Anthony was the team’s star player and leading scorer, and the starting lineup was rounded out by the likes of Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert.
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Needless to say, the playoff berth had been a long time coming. The team celebrated the win accordingly on social media, with the Knicks themselves tweeting a simple message after the Celtics’ loss.
CODY, WE DID IT.
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 13, 2021
For those wondering, that is a reference to a 2014 NBA Christmas Day commercial that featured a kid named Cody who just wanted the Knicks to make the playoffs.
Finally, the Knicks were able to grant that wish.
Several other players took to Twitter to express their elation with making the postseason. That included star Julius Randle, who had a message for his opponents ahead of the playoffs.
CLINCHED! 🙏🏾
— Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (@IQ_GodSon) May 13, 2021
New York let’s go to the PLAYOFFS!!!😁😁
— Theo pinson (@tpinsonn) May 13, 2021
The Knicks will now wait to see who their opponent is in the opening round. They’re currently the No. 6 seed but can finish as high as No. 4 as they jockey for position with the Hawks and Heat.