Knicks Slide Continues In Blowout Loss To Rockets

The New York Knicks' hopes of catching the Boston Celtics in the playoff standings continue to dwindle.

Amid a rough shooting night for their go-to scorers and a rough first quarter, the Knicks were cooked before they really had a chance in a 111-94 road loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for just 34 points on 12-for-31 from the field (38.7%), while Kevin Durant delivered efficient offense for Houston with a game-high 27 points.

The Rockets jumped out to a 37-21 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, leading 63-50 at halftime and continuing to build on their lead into the third quarter. Brunson ended up playing only 6:26 in the fourth quarter while going scoreless down the stretch.

It appears that the Knicks simply aren't going to close out the regular season the way anyone in NYC wanted. They're now down 2.5 games to the Celtics in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, with only six games left to catch them. What once looked like an epic showdown for playoff positioning, when the Knicks and Celtics clash on April 9, is now looking like a late-season throwaway for Boston and a must-win for New York just to maintain the third seed.

After a disappointing stretch run, it's hard to have much confidence in the Knicks to go on another deep playoff run, or get past the Celtics this time in a series.