The Knicks won’t exactly be able to ease back into action after the NBA All-Star break.
Three of the Knicks’ next five games are against the NBA’s elite, including the only two teams in the Eastern Conference with a better record than theirs.
The Knicks (36-18) are set to resume play Thursday with a soft spot on their schedule as the Chicago Bulls visit Madison Square Garden.
At 22-33, the 10th-seeded Bulls are clinging to the East’s final spot in the Play-In Tournament, but they traded away their leading scorer, Zach LaVine, this month and entered the break on a four-game losing streak.
After that, it gets much more difficult.
The Knicks are scheduled to visit the Eastern Conference-best Cleveland Cavaliers (44-10) on Friday, followed by a trip to Boston to face the second-seeded Celtics (39-16) on Sunday.
Against those two juggernauts, the Knicks are a combined 0-3.
The Knicks’ lone meeting with the Cavs came back in October, when Cleveland eked out a 110-104 victory at the Garden.
That was only the third game of the season, and the new-look Knicks were still finding their chemistry after swinging offseason trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.
But the Cavaliers are a different team now, too.
In one of the biggest deals before this month’s trade deadline, Cleveland acquired sharp-shooting forward De’Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks, bolstering what was already one of the NBA’s best offenses.
Hunter, who is averaging 18.8 points per game, joined a group led by Donovan Mitchell (23.9 points per game), Darius Garland (21.6) and Evan Mobley (18.5).
Cleveland averages 122.7 points per game, which ranks second in the NBA and first in the East.
The Celtics, meanwhile, pummeled the Knicks in both of this season’s previous matchups.
Those included a 132-109 win in Boston on opening day in which the Celtics tied an NBA record with 29 made 3-pointers; and this month’s similarly decisive 131-104 victory at the Garden.
Knicks forward OG Anunoby (right foot strain) missed the latter of those meetings, but so did Celtics starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
The defending champion Celtics boast the NBA’s sixth-ranked offense and fourth-ranked defense.
The Knicks return home for their fourth game after the break to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 26.
The Sixers are a disappointing 20-34, due in part to Joel Embiid missing all but 17 games as he continues to deal with a left knee that required surgery last February.
The Knicks are 2-0 against Philadelphia this season, but next week’s game will be the Sixers’ first at the Garden since last year’s contentious first-round playoff series, which the Knicks won in six.
The Knicks wrap up this month with a Feb. 28 trip to Memphis to face a Grizzlies team boasting the NBA’s highest-scoring offense at 123.3 points per game.
Buoyed by a career-best season from Jaren Jackson Jr. and the return of Ja Morant, the Grizzlies are 36-18, tying them with the Knicks for the NBA’s fourth-best record.
The Knicks beat the Grizzlies, 143-106, during the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 27 at the Garden.
Next week’s trip to Memphis kicks off an 11-game stretch in which the Knicks will play on the road nine times. That includes games against the Lakers (32-20) and Clippers (31-23) in Los Angeles during the first week of March.
Overall, the Knicks have the eighth-hardest remaining schedule in terms of opponent win percentage, according to Tankathon.
Friday’s game is the first of three remaining meetings between the Knicks and Cavs. Sunday’s game is the first of two meetings left between the Knicks and Celtics.
The Knicks are the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, but they are 0-5 against the Cavaliers, Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, who own the NBA’s three best records.
The returns of Anunoby, who has missed the last five games, and rim-protecting center Mitchell Robinson, who is nearing his long-awaited debut after May’s left ankle surgery, should give the Knicks their deepest and most-balanced team of the season.
“It’s a tremendous group,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said going into the break. “I tell them all the time I’m fortunate to be coaching them. You enjoy the effort they put forth. They’re together. They’re committed. They’re all sacrificing something for the team.”