their lottery odds<\/a> (Brooklyn can only catch the Pacers at the bottom of the standings, and Indiana would also have to lose to the Pistons). So assuming that result, the Raptors will clinch the fifth seed if Atlanta beats Miami (not likely since the Hawks are resting players) OR the Magic beats the Celtics (which is a likely outcome since Boston is resting players).<\/p>\nThe Knicks can feel fairly safe scouting the Raptors already.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Possible but don\u2019t count on it<\/p>\n
The Knicks draw the Hawks in the first round.<\/p>\n
This happens if on Sunday. \u2026<\/p>\n
Toronto beats Brooklyn; Miami beats Atlanta; Boston beats Orlando<\/p>\n
Tough to see this happening because it requires a result \u2013 Boston beating Orlando \u2013 that goes against the odds. The Magic are highly motivated to win Sunday since there\u2019s a chance they can move out of a play-in spot (while the Celtics, who are are locked into No. 2, are resting several players).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why would that happen if there\u2019s a chance three teams are tied for sixth in the East? If the Raptors and Magic win \u2014 and Hawks lose \u2014 they\u2019d all have 46 wins, and the three-way tiebreak means Atlanta stays at 5, Toronto stays at 6 and Orlando goes to 7th.<\/p>\n
Unlikely<\/p>\n
The Knicks draw the Magic in the first round<\/p>\n
This happens if on Sunday. \u2026<\/p>\n
Brooklyn beats Toronto; Atlanta beats Miami; Orlando beats Boston<\/p>\n
![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-125140867.jpg\")
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks drives against CJ McCollum of the Atlanta Hawks during the first quarter at State Farm Arena on April 6, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Anything involving the Nets winning Sunday is highly unlikely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The unlikeliest <\/p>\n
The Knicks draw the Sixers in the first round\u00a0<\/p>\n
This happens if on Sunday. \u2026<\/p>\n
Brooklyn beats Toronto; Boston beats Orlando; Philadelphia beats Milwaukee<\/p>\n
Again, the Nets would have to win against a motivated opponent \u2013 the Raptors want to avoid the play-in \u2013 and it\u2019s hard to see that happening for Brooklyn. Plus, the Celtics are resting their players.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The season finale at MSG means nothing for the Knicks. They\u2019re locked into the third seed. No wriggle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1262,21,56784,9,11,1104,10,1264,9126,319,1265],"class_list":{"0":"post-193939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-nba-playoffs","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-new-york-news","15":"tag-orlando-magic","16":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-toronto-raptors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Og](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/new-york-knicks-forward-og-125404878.jpg\")
Og Anunoby drives to the basket between Toronto Raptors guard A.J. Lawson and Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram during the first quarter in a game against the Toronto Raptors on April 10, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n