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It’s mostly the bed.
For much of the past two months, the Knicks have toured NBA cities with seven road trips spanning countless single-serving beds and hotel rooms, leaving them, as Tom Thibodeau pointed out, with six more road games than home games.
That’s about to change.
From the moment they touched down from Chicago on Sunday, the Knicks don’t have to board another plane until a short Feb. 4. flight to Toronto for a one-off.
A full month of being grounded is exceedingly rare during the season.
And the Knicks, tied with the Pacers for the most road games thus far in the NBA, are looking forward to the comforts of their own mattresses.
“With NBA players that’s the biggest thing about travel is not being in the same bed we purchased, we know is the best for us, we love the most,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, who, at 7-feet tall, probably finds challenges getting comfy. “I think that’s the end of the day that’s what we really miss is being in our bed. I know everyone’s got kids and wives and stuff. I agree. If I had kids, I would be on the same type of time. But truthfully, let’s be honest, it’s about the bed.”
Josh Hart has kids — young twins, in fact — but, like Towns, appreciates the benefits of a familiar bed.
“Obviously the travel is always tough. When you do that you don’t realize how nice it is and what an advantage it is to sleep in your own bed,” Hart said after a dud in a 136-126 Saturday loss to Bulls, the second game of a back-to-back after a late-night flight from OKC. “Last night I don’t think I went to sleep until 4 a.m. with the travel and the craziness. So it’ll be good. Obviously we’ll be in a familiar place, get to sleep in our bed, see family, do those kinds of things.
“Really just rest up. I think that’s the biggest thing. We don’t have to worry about traveling or anything like that.”
The schedule is home-friendly but otherwise difficult.
Twelve of the next 14 games are at MSG, with the only road contests at Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
Opponents at the Garden include the Thunder, Bucks, Timberwolves, Hawks, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Rockets and the Lakers for, perhaps, LeBron’s final game at his favorite arena.
Even Monday’s game against the decimated Magic carries more intrigue because of the potential of Paolo Banchero’s return from a long-term injury.
The only cake home game during this stretch is Wednesday against the Raptors.
“Overall, we just went through a pretty tough stretch in terms of where we were in the schedule. I think we’re plus-6 to the road, 5 of the last 6 on the road. So now we got a chance to go home and obviously there’s a lot of things we got to work on and clean up,” Thibodeau said after the Knicks (24-12) lost consecutive games for the first time since early November. “The important thing is for us to understand exactly where we are. In this stretch of 5 of 6 on the road, there’s a lot of travel involved. We get a chance to go home. But it’s a good challenge for us. Orlando, they’re getting people back. Banchero is back. And it’ll be a good test. There’s a lot of teams playing well right now that are coming in. … Get our legs under us and get a chance to get in the gym and fix things and work on things and continue to improve.”
Sleeping comfortably also helps.
“It’s a time for us to be home, get some practice time in, get some more time together where we’re watching film, be in the comforts of our own home, facility, with the fans,” Jalen Brunson said. “It’s just scheduling. We’ve got to take advantage of it.”
