Knicks' Most Pivotal Matchups After 2022 NBA All-Star Break

The New York Knicks are running out of time to salvage their season.

They are also now minus one potential savior, as four-time All-Star and Bronx native Kemba Walker and the club agreed he will shut it down for the remainder of the 2021-22 NBA campaign.

Coming out of the All-Star break, the 'Bockers find themselves seeded 12th in the Eastern Conference and 3.5 games out of the play-in tournament. It's possible to close that gap during the stretch run but only if the Knicks dramatically pick up their play, as they entered the intermission having lost 13 of their past 16 games.

If New York wants any hope of having something to play for after the 82-game schedule comes to close, it needs to pick up a boatload of wins the rest of the way. The following three matchups are the most critical remaining.

Last season, the Hawks proved to be the roadblock that prevented the Knicks from reaching the second round. Now, Atlanta has the chance to spoil New York's hopes of securing a play-in invite.

Granted, this isn't how each club hoped to spend this campaign. The Knicks and Hawks won 41 games apiece last season and held down the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively.

After ousting New York, Atlanta advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where it fell in six games to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks hinted at soaring to elite status, but they have had their wings clipped, undone by an overly generous defense that even its high-octane offense can't overcome.

The Knicks, perhaps with revenge on their mind, took the first three meetings between these teams this season. Stopping Trae Young remains an issue—for the Knicks and everyone else—but Julius Randle proved the difference-maker in the second and third matchups (49 points, 18 rebounds and 12 assists in those tilts).

New York must leapfrog two teams to get into the tournament. Completing a season sweep of Atlanta would be a solid start.

The ninth-seeded Charlotte Hornets own a distinction they would rather not have: They are one of the only teams more frigid than the Knicks.

While New York has dropped eight of its past 10 games, Charlotte has managed just a single win over the same stretch. The Hornets have missed the across-the-board contributions of Gordon Hayward (ankle), and their offense has flatlined since the calendar flipped to the new year (second in efficiency from October to December, 25th since Jan. 1, per NBA.com).

Charlotte's free fall gives Gotham reason for optimism, and that will be especially true if New York can win either (or both) of the teams' remaining head-to-matchups. The first could be the trickiest, though, as this game will come on the second night of a back-to-back (the Knicks host the Hawks the night before) and kick off a three-game road trip that features stops in Miami and Detroit.

The Knicks are 0-2 against the Hornets this season, and their only player to top 18 points in either contest was the aforementioned Walker, who spent his first eight seasons in Buzz City.

If this game holds any relevance when it finally comes around, that will be great news for the Knicks. This is the second-to-last game on their schedule, so if they are still playing for something at that point, they will be well within striking distance to extend their season.

Of course, the Wizards—seeded 11th and 2.5 games up on the Knicks—will likely be looking to do the same, barring a collapse between now and then, so they won't go down easily.

New York and Washington still have a pair of head-to-head tilts remaining, with the first being a home game for the Knicks on March 18. Since this is on the road and later on the schedule, though, it seems more critical to New York's play-in hopes.

The Knicks and Wizards have squared off once this season, a 124-117 Wizards win back on Dec. 23. But don't expect either club to spend much time on that film since Washington was without Bradley Beal and paced in points by the since-traded Spencer Dinwiddie, while New York received a season-high 44 points (plus nine rebounds and eight assists) from the now-exiled Walker.