New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher knows the idea “sounds crazy.”

But he remains confident that the Knicks will make a run at the playoffs this season.

“I think if we can get healthy and we can continue to build confidence in one another [and] in what we can do, we’ll still have a shot at the right time,” Fisher said Thursday.

At 5-23, the Knicks are off to the worst start in franchise history. They enter play Friday seven games behind Brooklyn for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Given all of that, the idea that they can make the playoffs seems far-fetched.

What gives Fisher confidence that the Knicks can make a run for the eighth seed?

“How we’ve lost a lot of games that we have lost. That, I think, is also in my opinion confirmation that we’re not as far away as it seems,” Fisher said. “Although that sounds crazy with [23] losses. To think about being [seven] games from still being kind of in the race is somewhat mind-boggling, but it’s a very long season.”

To Fisher’s point, the Knicks have played in 18 games in which they’ve been five points ahead or behind with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks are 3-15 in those games -- the worst record in the NBA in "clutch" situations. That's part of the reason they're 18 games under .500.

At this point in the season, the Knicks face extremely long odds to make the playoffs.

John Hollinger’s playoff metric states that the Knicks have just a 2.4 percent chance of getting to the postseason.

In Hollinger’s projection system, a computer plays out the remainder of the season 5,000 times to see the potential range of projected outcomes. The results reveal the most likely win-loss record for each team -- and what the odds are for each team to make the NBA playoffs.

So things don’t look good for New York.

Here’s another factor to consider when you talk about the Knicks and the postseason: If New York somehow sneaks into the playoffs, the club will be out of the draft lottery.

However, if the Knicks continue to lose, their probability increases for getting a top pick in June's NBA draft.

No gifts this season: The folks at the NBA got creative in this ad campaign to promote the Christmas Day games. Check them out here and here. The Knicks play the Wizards on Christmas at noon on ESPN.

Question: Do you think the Knicks should make a playoff push? Or should they be content with losing the rest of the season to ensure a top draft pick?

ESPN.com Bulls reporter Nick Friedell contributed to this report.