There is no question that home-court advantage is one of the most important things to possess in the post-season. Every team is aiming to claim a top seed in the their respective conferences and once the playoffs come along, everyone wants to have the advantage.
The New York Knicks will be playing in the extremely competitive Atlantic Division and there is a chance that four of the five teams make the post-season. Thus, it is imperative for the Knicks to play their best every night and try to get home-court in at least the first round of the playoffs.
In order to that, the Knicks cannot afford to lose to teams that have no playoff aspirations. Last season, there were times were lottery-bound teams came into Madison Square Garden and embarrassed the Knicks in front of their fans. Knicks coach Mike Woodson spoke to ESPN and he talked about how the Knicks must take care of their home-court in the regular season so that they can be in the best position possible in April.
"It's going to be more important that we establish our home court advantage. That's going to be huge," he said. "We've got to use the Garden as our friend and our family in terms of how we can compete on a night-in and night-out basis. I mean, we can't let teams come in the Garden and win, and then when we get out on the road, we've got to figure out that."
The Knicks cannot allow less talented teams to steal a game at the Garden. Every game will be precious in this upcoming campaign and seeding could be determined in the final day of the regular season.
The Knicks, Celtics, Nets, Sixers and possibly the Raptors will be fighting for playoff spots next spring, and New York must make sure it is above the competition after 82 games.
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