The Hawks can say what they want. They’ll deny it. Whatever. But they preferred the Knicks over the Cavaliers. Put it on the chalkboard in the MSG locker room:

“They Thought You’d Be Easier!”

At the very least, the Hawks did nothing to avoid the Knicks. They threw up their hands, messed with the basketball gods and became the only NBA team with seeding on the line in the regular-season finale to bench their best players.

The rest of the league Sunday was either locked into a seed, out of the playoffs or pushing for victory. But the Hawks, who were a win away from clinching fifth and matching up with the Cavs instead of the Knicks, sat everybody and were predictably bludgeoned by the Heat 143-117.