NEW ORLEANS – The Knicks got through the big game with ease and are now starting an easy schedule.

Starting Saturday night against the Pelicans, the Knicks have five of the next seven games against the bottom four of the NBA standings.

It’s a remarkably long stretch with games against the Pelicans (5-23), Raptors (7-21), Jazz (6-20) and Wizards (4-21) twice.

Even the two opponents sandwiched between these tankers – the Spurs (14-13) and Magic (17-12) – are underdogs against the Knicks (17-10).

The long-term injuries Zion Williamson (hamstring strain), Brandon Ingram (ankle strain) and Jose Alvarado (hamstring strain) will be missing from New Orleans on Saturday.

The Pelicans, defeated by the Knicks at MSG on Dec. 1, are among the projected biggest sellers at the trade deadline, with Ingram on the line and speculation about Williamson’s availability mounting.

The Knicks, meanwhile, have won seven of their last nine games after defeating the Timberwolves 133-107 on Thursday.

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Not only did Julius Randle leave the court without shaking his former teammates’ hands after Thursday’s game, he also walked past the Knicks’ locker room on his way out of the arena – with sunglasses over his eyes – and never stopped.

It’s safe to say he remains upset about the end of his tenure in New York. In earlier eras this may not have been significant. But players are so friendly these days that even a frosty encounter is rare.

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It will be interesting to see what happens when Randle plays at MSG for the first time since being traded on January 17th.

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Josh Hart looks like he’s back.

Hart, who missed Thursday for “personal reasons,” was not on the injury report for the Pelicans showdown. The T-Wolves game was his first absence this season. The Knicks started Precious Achiuwa, who struggled defensively on his first shift but found a groove later in the game.

Jericho Sims was added to the eight-man rotation and Tom Thibodeau gave his usual greeting to just about everyone after the game.

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“Karl-(Anthony Towns), I mean, what could you say? “It was just a monster game,” Thibodeau said, “as well as Mikal (Bridges) and I thought OG (Anunoby)’s defense was special.” We got a good game from Jalen (Brunson), I thought he did Just didn’t fight the game, he read the game really well and created a lot of advantages. I liked that we had 39 assists, a big part of it was dribbling and then the correct interpretation. The guys worked together, Deuce (McBride) gave us good minutes, Jericho really good minutes and Cam (Payne) too.”

Minutes later, Thibodeau interrupted a response about two women storming onto the court mid-game and announced, “Precious gave us a good game, too.”

So the coach reached out to everyone.

However, with Hart returning, it’s safe to assume Achiuwa will move back to the bench.