Alvarado is keeping his hopes up.
The New York Knicks are 51-28 and sitting in the third seed in the Eastern Conference with the regular season winding down, and the mood inside the building is as confident as it has been all year.
At morning shootaround, guard Jose Alvarado spoke about where he thinks this team stands heading into the playoffs and what they need to do to get over the hump.
"I see what they're seeing. We can get to that level," Alvarado said. "We're really good. We just need to lock in on the details and stay like that. What really is in our way is ourselves. We just got to stay consistent and confident in who we are."
Alvarado's Fit in New York
Since being traded from New Orleans on February 5, Alvarado has brought a spark off the bench that this roster needed.
He averaged 7.1 points, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game on the season while shooting 34.7 percent from three, and his energy on the defensive end has been noticeable from the jump.
In his first three games as a Knick, he came out hot and averaged 14.0 points per game while knocking down threes at a high clip.
That energy matters when you are a team trying to build depth for a long playoff run.
Alvarado grew up in Queens and played high school ball at Christ the King, so suiting up for the Knicks carries extra meaning.
He is not the biggest name on the roster, but his willingness to play hard and his ability to create turnovers with his aggressive hands have made him a fan favorite already.
What the Knicks Need in the Playoffs
Alvarado was straight up about it.
The talent is there and everyone inside the locker room can see it.
Jalen Brunson has been carrying the offense all season, putting up 30 points and 13 assists in Monday's 108-105 win over Atlanta while Karl-Anthony Towns continues to anchor the frontcourt.
Add in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, and the Knicks have one of the deepest rotations in the league heading into the postseason.
But depth and talent only matter if you bring it every night, and that is exactly what Alvarado was getting at.
The Knicks have shown stretches this season where they looked like the best team in the East, including a seven-game win streak in late March, and they have also gone through rough patches like their 2-9 stretch from late December into January.
Closing the gap between those two versions of themselves is the whole ballgame.
If New York wants to make a real title run this spring, they need to defend at a high level for four quarters, take care of the basketball, and trust each other when the pressure builds.
Alvarado knows that better than most.
He has been through tough playoff battles before in New Orleans, and he understands that the regular season means very little once the postseason begins.
The Knicks have the pieces. Now they just have to put it all together when it counts.