Starting with tonight’s showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies (8 ET, NBA League Pass), the New York Knicks face a six-game road trip through the Western Conference. Twice this season, the Knicks got three games over .500 (a 10-7 start, then a 17-14 mark later) but they have failed to keep the momentum going on each occasion.

The good news for New York on this trip is that they are playing just one Western Conference power (the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 23) and one team over .500 (the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 25). The rest of the games — Memphis, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix — are against teams with worse records than the Knicks. Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes that the Knicks know this trip could play a big part in their playoff hopes and more:

“This is an opportunity,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. “People look at road trips as ‘Man, we’ve got a tough trip.’ We’ve got to look at it as this is a chance for us. If you go out there and have a great road trip, that could give you the momentum to go into All-Star break and come back from that and maybe make a run at something later on . . . It’s an opportunity to get on a roll.

“Sometimes these trips can really turn the corner for you.”

…

Hornacek said the Knicks shouldn’t focus on the playoffs but just to continue to grow as a team.

“We talked about the beginning of the season with our guys is don’t look at what your goals are,” Hornacek said. “What we’re trying to do is get the best out of them and improve all year long. If playoffs come about, fine. And I think that’s what happened to us.

“We got off and got a couple games over .500 there, and then all of a sudden everyone is talking about, ‘Oh we have a chance. If we win we make playoffs.’ You don’t worry about that. You just go out there and try to be better each and every game. And then the wins will pile up and you’ll have a chance. So we have to get back to our basics that we talked about at the beginning of the year and how we’re going to approach this season and see where it lands.”