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The Knicks will get three more chances in April to be more competitive against the two teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings.
They are winless in five tries against the Cavaliers and the Celtics this season following consecutive road defeats over the weekend — and 0-7 when you add in two more losses to the Thunder, the leaders in the West.
With an average margin of defeat of 20.1 points in those games, is it realistic to expect that gap to be closed this season for a Knicks squad with aspirations of advancing deeper into the playoffs following two straight second-round eliminations?
“The first thing I would say is, we all have to be cognizant of the fact that those three teams are doing this to everybody,” longtime ESPN analyst Tim Legler told The Post. “But the Knicks, with the expectation level coming off of last season, then you make the trade for [Karl-Anthony] Towns, that’s now the measuring stick.
“How do we stack up to the Celtics? How do we stack up to the Cavs? And even OKC? It clearly has not gone well for them, and for me, what it comes down to is offensively they can go toe-to-toe with those teams. But the difference is that those three teams have a level that they can go to defensively with their pressure and their team speed and just with their commitment to it that the Knicks just can’t match at that end of the floor.”
TNT analyst and former Knicks guard Greg Anthony also acknowledged the third-seeded Knicks are not on the level of the league’s elite.
“I never thought of this as a championship-or-bust season for the Knicks, and I do think long term they’ve put themselves in a better position to compete for a title,” Anthony told The Post. “If this season ends early, [Knicks president] Leon Rose and the front office are going to have to figure out why and the other areas to address.
“I think by watching these games in particular, they need to be better defensively, they need to improve their depth and they still need some more athleticism. That much is obvious.”
After watching the Knicks get torched Friday night in Cleveland by 37 points, Legler said he expected Tom Thibodeau’s team to show “they had enough” and that “they would come out and draw a line in the sand” against the Celtics.
“And then they were down by 20 in the first quarter,” added Legler, who served as an analyst for Sunday’s game for ABC. “I know they made it a game briefly in the second half, but what we are seeing is that these three teams are so hard to guard, and the Knicks are just not an elite defensive team.
“So when you throw an average defensive team at any of those three teams when they’re playing with sharp focus — which I don’t know if Boston was doing earlier in the year, but they definitely are now — you can get some of these margins where these buzzsaw games take place and you can’t slow it down.
“And then the question becomes, what do you do about it?” Legler continued. “Well, it’s difficult because I think a lot of it is personnel-based.”
Both analysts believe the Knicks will be helped by the pending return of center Mitchell Robinson from injury for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery last May, although Legler stressed that “it’s not realistic” to expect the injury-prone 7-footer “to have a major impact right away.”
Still, Legler also noted that Towns “is totally being picked on” by opposing teams in ball-screen actions away from the basket.
“These teams in particular will just destroy you in that action. That’s all Boston runs,” Legler said. “The difference is they have five guys who all can run it at a high level and all of their guys can really shoot.
“So they force the Knicks’ other defenders into rotation and just count on the fact that it’s going to be overwhelming for them. In these matchups, it has been.”
The Knicks (37-20) will face the reeling 76ers at the Garden on Wednesday night before playing seven of their next eight games on the road.
They will visit Cleveland one more time on April 2 and also will play both the Cavs and the Celtics at MSG later that month before the playoffs begin.
“Listen, there’s no question you’re ultimately going to be judged by how you fare against the best teams. And obviously to have success in the postseason, you’re gonna have to play them and beat them,” Anthony said. “They have not fared well at all, but having said that, I think they’re better than they’ve shown so far in those moments.
“I think from a defensive standpoint, they haven’t performed like Tom Thibodeau teams historically have. Obviously, from defensive and depth standpoints they still aren’t where they need to be. I really like their lineup at the top with [Jalen] Brunson and KAT at the offensive end, but they still have a lot of work to do to close the gap.”
Josh Hart was fined $2,000 by the NBA for flopping in the third quarter of Sunday’s game.
