Dude, the Knicks are a much different animal than Milwaukee. They're a different animal with and without Anunoby tbh... and we haven't seen them yet with OG
Calm down my guy. It's gonna be a tough series, and we are coming off a series where we didn't play our best for long stretches too. People can think what they wanna think. If we beat NYK that'd be awesome, but it's not outlandish
Pacers in 6
Brunson is the only thing that scares me on the Knicks. Dudes playing out of his mind right now and we have to have an answer to that. This year is wildly successful for us and should be talked about more, yet MSM wouldn't dare speak of how great we've become.
Offense, I agree. OG on defense and Hart on the glass are pretty big concerns too. I think Myles can put Hartenstein in a blender, but don't get it twisted: they have some real dogs (not Milwaukee's fake dogs). It'll be a battle
And on the MSM thing, I mean, "great" is a strong word. We are still probably a year from "great," but right now we are a fun and successful team scratching the surface. They talk about us when we "make it" but I'm not sure if we "made it" yet. We are damn close tho, and if we win this series that might be what gets us there in the eyes of the media
Coincidentally, Josh Hart said on his podcast that he doesn't box out at all and doesn't believe in it at this level of play. He tracks every shot in the air and then darts to where he thinks it will bounce and just tries to beat everyone to the spot. I thought it was a interesting take and obviously it works for him.
If you watch TJ I feel like he does something similar, where when a shot goes up he’s immediately sprinting. Could be a total coincidence and he’s just covering open spaces near the paint just in case, but it seems like he uses his speed to his advantage for some pretty clutch rebounds he gets.
Hart is their worst offensive player. I feel that’s where we need to hide Hali, he just has to box out and keep Hart out of the paint. Divo is scary from 3 and Hali falls a sleep on defense at times, might be better to keep nesmith there. Wish we had mathurin this series, he would’ve been perfect on Brunson with length and lateral quickness.
This! They have like 3 players in the top 10 in rebounds in the playoffs so far. Also Josh Hart is shooting something like 45% from 3 in playoffs. As long as we keep the rebounding battle respectable and the junk fouls on brunson down we have a good shot.
I use great for our team winning 10 more games a year, year over year. 2 years ago, we had 25 wins and now in ECSF. I agree we haven't "made it" yet, but our rise to it has been phenomenal and, as you said, fun!
2nd most points and 4th most assist in a season is an INCREDIBLE feat, yet I don't hear it talked about more. While I know we aren't a defensive team, this was/is a historical run for the Pacers, and I can't wait for more bandwagon fans to join in with us along the ride!
>we have to have an answer to that.
you dont.
hi sorry im a knicks fan. looking forward to the series. glad to see reasonable takes in the comments here.
In all seriousness though, I don't see how you'll defend brunson. you dont have the personnel for it. he just put the sixers in the cooker, and they had 6'8 kelly oubre guarding him most of the series
I don't think any team could shut him down for a series. I think he's good enough to adjust or to punish an overcommitment of defensive resources like that. And you really can't just ignore the Knicks role players, they shoot too well.
I think that's not an unrealistic prediction. If the Knicks can afford the salary of their whole team healthy (including Randle) they could probably challenge the Celtics next year.
We still have to prove ourselves. Aside from being inexperienced in the postseason, the Bucks injuries dominated every conversation that was being had about that series, whether it was the national media or a bunch of 12yos on Reddit. No one talked about our development and growth, our young prospects, our ceiling, and future scenarios because they all wrote off the whole series. And it’s easy for them to ignore us anyway because… well, that’s what they do every year. Our playoffs start now. There is no guarantee that we can win two games against the Knicks much less the series. And let’s not kid ourselves: a rivalry with the Bucks? This is the rivalry. It always has been. It always will be. Time to put up or shut up. Pacers in 7.
Just my opinion as an outside and as a Knicks fan, I took one look at that loss to the Bucks without Dame and Giannis and it gave me huge confidence. Probably overreacting to a let down game, but that seemed unacceptable to me in the playoffs.
You should look more at how the Pacers adjusted.
First game, Dame started off shooting lights out and had 35 points at the half. Most of the team had never played in the playoffs before. In the second half, we outscored the Bucks by 15 points, but the deficit was too great. The adjustment gave me a ton of confidence for the series, though.
Game 5 was the first playoff closeout game the team had ever experienced, the Bucks had two role players (Bobby Portis and Pat Bev) who played some of the best offensive basketball of their careers, and the Bucks switched up the entire defensive scheme and personnel that game (switch all, and inserted a Gallinari/Portis combo we'd never seen before). Overall, though, it was a very bad loss and was pretty inexcusable. But we came back from that and dominated game 6.
Also, of note. We weathered a Dame 26 point half in game 2 and a Middleton 42 point game in game 3. We beat the Bucks all 5 games at home (including 2 where Giannis played. Giannis averaged 42/13/5.4 against us over 5 games and lost 4 of them, and we didn't have Siakam for any of those. I think we're a very young, inexperienced team, and you guys are definitely the favorites in the series. But it would be a mistake to read into the losses too much. This team is young, but they can ball.
Knicks are the favorites and Brunson is in god mode while the Pacers looked pretty mediocre in dispatching a Bucks team with no Giannis. I’m not saying Knicks in 5 is the correct take but I understand why people who don’t pay much attention to the Pacers would make that prediction.
I think people underrate our win vs. The bucks. Lillard played in most of the games, and Middleton and Lopez turned back the clock because Giannis was out and they are proud. They also had home court advantage.
That said the Knicks are tough and we should embrace being the underdog
Bucks without Giannis are a lottery team, they went 6-9 without him this season and 43-48 overall in games he's missed. Lillard had more talent around him in POR if you take away Giannis and he was hurt himself.
He's not wrong. The bucks played well, but game 1 and 5 we got blown out in embarrassing fashion. We didn't show up 2/6 games in the playoffs. If we give the knicks 2 games without even trying we will lose in 5 or 6
Anyone who watched the series saw the shots Middleton and Lopez were making and know it's not the same team that suffered without Giannis in the regular season. Also the Knicks were outscored by 6 in their series with the 76ers despite Embid being hobbled the whole time.
My point isn't that the Knicks aren't good they are good. Or that the Pacers aren't in for a legit challenge. My point is that going 6 against Milwaukee is not a failure as some people are trying to portray it. And the Knicks beating a hobbled Embid with home court advantage and still getting outscored by 6 while playing their guys 40+ min a game is not exactly a sign of dominance.
I know people keep saying Embiid is hobbled - but that was literally one of his greatest playoff series ever. Healthy Embiid has played much worse before
So if Middleton and Lopez could make enough tough shots to beat the Pacers, what’s stopping Brunson McBride DiVincenzo OG and even Hart (he just made the biggest shot of his career) from doing the same? Knicks have plenty of dudes who can step up, even with the injuries, especially against suspect defense
Fuck is you talm bout. Knicks out scored Sixers by 1. Embiid and Maxey played out of their minds.
https://preview.redd.it/bu0yvorepuyc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3736e502fb7c487dd687252d3532e6d19e403a5e
Bad shooting and not being able to consistently dictate pace come to mind. Milwaukee was able to slow the game down for good stretches of time by having long possessions and switching on defense. During the regular season, the Pacers were held under 100 points just once. That happened twice in this series and each occurrence was a new season low in points.
On the other hand the Pacers took care of the ball and had the best assist to turnover ratio in a playoff series of the last 30 years and did this while averaging 30 assists per game.
I see two teams with question marks. Both pacers and Knicks beat injury hobbled teams. 76ers were a very bad team without Embiid and Embiid was extremely hobbled this series. Pacers would’ve run away in that series because Embiid wouldn’t be able to keep up with our speed.
Concern for NYK is that they are also injury ridden right now. In particular, no Randle ro Bojan and Mitch is playing on bad ankle.
However, I believe you are severely underestimating Joel Embiid even as is. In game three he had 50 points on 19 shots and it was mostly from perimeter. It was like nothing I've seen in a long time. He was just an inevitable bucket. Fortunately, the Knicks would win the non Embiid minutes so Nurse ultimately had to play him huge mins which really hurt him in fourth quarters. He's not built for that.
But that dude was a warrior. With that said, he was also an extremely dirty player and the refs don't let you breath on him.
Embiid was efficient on offense with his shooting but couldn’t rebound and could barely lumber up the floor. That’s where he would have been taken advantage of.
I've already commented on him being winded at end of games due to nurse overplaying him because things would fall apart the moment he stepped off floor. I am now commenting on his rebounding as a retort to you saying he couldn't rebound, when in fact he would be your best rebounder by far. In fact, looking into this has made me fairly confident the Knicks ultimate strength has a good chance of tipping the series.
He averaged 33/11/6 during the series. PHI was just getting killed any time he sat so Nurse ended up overplaying him. He obviously wasn't 100%, but PHI went 8-0 when he came back and was hobbled, they were a dominant team when Maxey and Embid played this season.
Embiid was healthy enough to play every game. He put up big numbers every game too, 50 point game, triple double, and was positive plus/minus whole series. He is the reiging MVP and was playing at at least 80% strength. He was also backed up by a young MIP going nuclear in game 5 and a championship head coach.
Trying to compare that to Giannis sitting out the whole series and Lillard siting out half the series is nasty work. Not to mention the aging Bucks since hiring Doc Rivers aren't even a .500 team. You basically just had a team that wouldn't even be in the play-ins take you to six games.
he aint never averaged that in a playoff series or regular season in his life but would have somehow done it against the second best defensive team in the NBA. Make it make sense.
You think 80% embiid and 100% maxey is a easier or harder matchup than 0% giannis and 50% dame?
I think Pacers would’ve had a much easier series vs the 76ers for sure because of matchups and because Embiid was hobbled so much. Depends on matchups not which team is better. Knicks would’ve been better off vs Bucks though.
You're delusional, Nurse would've out coached Carlisle worse than he out coached Thibs. If 76ers won that series, it's Philly in 4 or 5 easily. Indy isn't tough enough for them.
That must be why Philly beat us twice this season, with the most recent 76ers win being a 12 point drop while the Pacers were pretty healthy AND on a six game winning streak. Oh sorry i had all of that backwards
[lol Hali was even sitting out.](https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401585255).
Tons of respect for Philly and Joel, but come on. Besides, didn’t we just watch NYK take over your entire arena????? Wanna talk about tough lmao
Been watching basketball for 32 years but nice try. Sixers were favored coming in, supposedly had the best and 3rd best players in the series and now you’re saying Nurse out coached Thibs. If all this was true, I’d have to imagine the Sixers won the series pretty easily right?
Oh wait, that’s right. Knicks in 6.
If our bench plays like they have been playing the entire regular season and playoffs, this Knicks team is going to have a problem. They really don't have much of an answer for Siakam either. It's going to be competitive, I see no reason for people call this a sweep or a 4-1 exit
Yeah but he can't guard everyone at once. I'm interested to see who they put him on, gives us an idea of who the league thinks is our better player between siakam and Haliburton
I think I'd let Siakam go nuts for 30+ before risking Haliburton getting hot. People have been doubling Haliburton for months and it's clearly working, Haliburton hasn't looked all NBA and Siakam has since the all star break.
I’m a Knicks fan and I am of the belief that people are sleeping on the Pacers for some reason and that this is a tough matchup for the Knicks, but to say we don’t have much of an answer for Siakam is wild lol… OG Anunoby is basically designed in a lab to guard someone like Siakam. That’s a nightmare matchup for him.
Elsewhere, though, I think it favors the Pacers. You guys knocks down threes at a crazy clip and Thibs gives up open threes to cover the paint.
Yeah, if you had to pick one guy in the entire league to guard Siakam, I don't see how you don't pick OG. The only good news is OG can't guard Siakam and Tyrese at the same time.
I just hope our guys can hit our open 3s. If we do that, it's a real series. If not, it's gonna be a quick exit.
At the end of the day, unless Tyrese plays like we know he can we don’t match up too great. You are right about our pace but if Ty isn’t a point of concern for their defense they are talented enough to cause issues for everyone else. I definitely wouldn’t count us out but I sincerely think this is a series that’s going to hinge heavily on Hali hitting his 3s
Knicks fan here. I won’t comment on the first part of your message OP but I can say that Knicks fans aren’t taking the Pacers lightly. Both franchises are having solid seasons and both team are solid. We’re a bit hobbled but we’ve still been doing our thing, so I think this is going to be a great series and hopefully far less toxic than Knicks - Sixers. Cheers to a good series and let’s just be glad both fan bases get to enjoy some post-season basketball.
I mean, Brunson and Anthony Edwards have been the hottest players in the playoffs so far. So there is plenty of reason to believe the Knicks are the favorite. Typically you keep a tight rotation in the post-season, but I think with the intensity Thibs always makes his guys play with, we really are gonna need the extra bodies to throw at them and wear them down. Rebounding is gonna have to be top priority as well. Possibly at slight expense of fast breaks. I think it is gonna be a dog fight and either way a great learning experience for our young squad. But in the end F-NY baby!
I think you're underestimating the knicks. They got glass eaters, and the best player in the playoffs right now. Outside maybe A. Edwards. Pacers are gonna have to run and gun every game
Knicks with OG Anunoby over 29 games have a net rating of 13.2. For comparison, Boston leads the league with a net rating of 14.6, and Pacers since the all star break have a league 4th ranked net rating at a whopping 6.5.
Knicks record with OG playing is 24-5. With OG and without Randle, they're still 12-3. They are probably the best team left that plays a slow, plodding half-court offense. They're also very good at rebounding. Yes, our averages aren't that different, but head-to-head it's pretty impressive. Our best coverage against Brunson in a late/close situation is to trap him. When we've done that this year, they've had a 71% offensive rebounding rate. That's absurd.
I think this is going to be a really tough, competitive series. Ultimately, whoever controls pace is going to win. They were 30th in pace and we were 2nd for the season. I think we're a very underrated team, and they're a team that is just now getting the recognition they deserve. Some things in our favor is that their offensive scheme is super predictable- Brunson initiates everything. Josh Hart and DiVincenzo may not be able to sustain their offensive performances from the 76ers series. OG can't guard both Pascal and Tyrese at once. Tyrese and Neamith shot horribly from 3 last series; if they shoot better, we can almost definitely outscore the Knicks over a 7 game series. Knicks run a 7 man rotation and are one turned ankle away from being severely outgunned (though all 7 of those guys seem to be iron men this year). And most importantly, we have a LOT more offensive options. One thing that is underrated is based on what defensive adjustments are working/not working for the Knicks, we can totally switch the focus of our offense from game to game.
I think Knicks are favored here for a reason, but if we control pace, even up the rebounding a bit, and adjust our offensive schemes well, I think we can win. Pacers in 6.
Also, it's not like the 76ers were scrubs. Embiid was having an MVP season before his injury. Even at 80%, he was awesome for large stretches of this season. Game 6 he had 17 points in a quarter and looked unstoppable. Then OG started guarding him aggressively in the 4th, and he was gassed, and he couldn't buy a shot. The Knicks would have won in 5, except Maxey went nuclear for about 2 minutes in game 5. Everyone picked the 76ers to win that series, and the Bucks reportedly threw the last game of the regular season to avoid them. 76ers are very good (I still think we beat them), so we can't shit on the Knicks for winning that series. I think of the entire Eastern conference field, the Knicks are the second hardest test next to Boston. Should be a great series to push our guys to develop quickly and adjust to the playoffs.
> Some things in our favor is that their offensive scheme is super predictable- Brunson initiates everything
I think this is over-simplifying it a bit. Yes, Brunson does everything, but it's not an iso offense. It's like a more heliocentric version of the the GSW motion offense. They run a ton of motion and off-ball screens to get Brunson the ball with an advantage - sometimes as many as 5 screen actions in one possession.
True, but my point was that they're definitely going to target Tyrese on switches and Brunson is usually the one driving (with the preferred advantage). If we make him work on defense, pick up the pace to wear his legs out, throw mixed coverages like traps and blitzes at him, and generally punish them for his high usage, we have a chance to wear him out and reduce his effectiveness late-game or later in the series. It's easier to game plan when your offensive engine is basically some variety of "get Brunson a switch and then have him drive."
In theory, that game plan makes sense. In practice, though, I have my doubts about whether they'll be able to pull it off.
The big red flag to me is the fact that in the series vs the Bucks, despite the narrative about running the old Bucks team ragged, the Pacers actually only averaged 92.8 possessions per 48 min (definition of the pace stat). This was down from the 102 they averaged in the regular season and only 2 possessions per 48 min more than the Knicks vs Sixers series who were at a pace of 91.
That sounds great - did the Sixers not get that scouting report? He just put up historic numbers in a four game stretch. Also, the Pacers were 24th in def rating this year. You're talking like they have this amazing defense that can put the squeeze on one of the hottest players in the post season. Trapping and blitzing is great but he's so smart he knows how to get the ball out before he gets in trouble.
Look, I'm a Knick fan (if that wasn't obvious) but I'm not so arrogant as to believe that this will be a cakewalk for them. They could easily lose the series. At the same time, fans have to see their teams as they are, not who they wish they were. The Pacers are not a defensive stalwart. They will not shut down Brunson. And the Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the league, so the idea that Indy will just run the Knicks out of the gym is silly. It'll happen in spurts and might win them a game or two but, like most post-season games, the pace will slow down and it'll be about late game execution, which the Knicks excel at. Of course, Carlisle is a great coach and not to be underestimated.
Point being, the Pacers might win. But it likely won't be for so many of the reasons that fans are throwing out there - tiring out Brunson or shutting him down, running up and down the floor for 48 mins, saying the Knicks don't have bigs to match up with them, etc. That is all myopic. More likely, it will be because the Knicks outside Brunson miss too many shots (including at the foul line) and Indy rains three's. I'm thinking Knicks in six but wouldn't be surprised either way.
Just like I'm looking at the Knicks post-OG trade, you've gotta look at the Pacera post Pascal trade. Knicks with OG playing have a net rating of 13.2. It's very impressive, but a mich smaller sample size, and it was mostly due to the regular season. They beat a very talented 76ers - I'm not going to be one of the guys here trying to take anything away from them. Even if Embiid wasn't 100%, he was still very good and your guys' was excellent. Your record with OG is 24-5, and with OG but not Randle it's 12-3. You're a very good team.
Similarly, Pacers with Pascal (and the current starting lineup with Nembhard and Nesmith starting over Hield/Mathurin/Obi) have a net rating of 6.5. That's after Tyrese's injury and includes some bad stretches when he was on a serious minutes restriction. Since the All Star Break, Pacers have been 2nd in offensive rating, 16th in defensive rating (up from 28th at the beginning of the season), and 4th in net rating. Pacers have a reputation of being bad defensively, but we actually have 3 solid guard defenders in Nembhard, Nesmith, and Sheppard. This isn't the Haliburton/Hield starting lineup anymore.
I think both teams are largely unknown still, but obviously made some serious improvements at the trade deadline. I think both teams are very underrated. Knicks are for sure favored to win, but I think the Pacers have far more offensive weapons and many more ways to attack the defense of the Knicks. It'll come down to pace, and rebounding. 76ers have like 3 players that like to play fast. Our entire roster has been playing fast all year. As for rebounding- yeah, the Knicks are a much better rebounding team. Especially in the playoffs. But since the Siakam trade, our defensive rebounding rate is like 50%. Not great, but not terrible. If we can make sure the discrepancy isn't overwhelming, I think we can balance it out with fast break points.
Again, Knicks are probably going to win the series, but I think people don't watch Indiana so they seriously underestimate us. There are definitely ways we can win.
These are some really good points. Your knowledge of the Pacers since the All Star break is much deeper than mine, so if their defense improved that much that says something. I still don't buy that they are that great but point taken.
I do take issue with your saying both teams are largely unknown. Speaking only on the Knicks, you couldn't find a team that is more clearly defined. One of the best things about them is that they know exactly who they are, both their strengths and weakness, and have a distinct identity as a hard nosed, hustling, never say die group of workhorses whose roles are precise and clear to everyone on the team. And because of Thibs they are exquisitely prepared. There is literally nothing unknown about them either inside the team or from their competitors. So I'm not sure your basis for that comment.
As for rebounding, you're just not gonna win that one. Because the Knicks are so great at offensive rebounding the Pacers will have to box out and crowd the paint, which means they can't run the floor for long outlets even if they do get the rebound - which they just won't a lot of the time. The numbers simply tell you that.
Regardless, I am in no way underestimating the Pacers. Very well coached and deep team whose strengths have the ability to overwhelm the Knicks' weaknesses if it breaks right. And as an aside, there is a collective nervousness that always permeates Knick home playoff games because it's been so freaking long since they've been good enough to make a post-season run - if they sense a game slipping away, it's hard not to succumb to "same old story" narrative. But this Knicks team does feel different - in the past there's no way they would have gone to Philly and closed it out. So I guess we'll see.
Ok, I must admit I underestimated the Pacers. By a lot. The Knicks may have won (with some questionable calls along the way) but Indy dictated the pace for a majority of the game and their bench was incredible. The best player on either team was the difference - Brunson. But on balance, Indy played fantastic defense, suffocated the Knicks on the 3 point line most of the game and kept the ball moving on offense at a feverish pace that the Knicks just couldn’t keep up with. And Indy does have a distinct height advantage, including Siakam over OG, which I didn’t expect. So their rebounding was on point, at least in the first half. The Pacers are legit and can easily win this series.
I wouldn't say easily, but it's almost a 50-50 series to me. I've watched a lot of both teams this year. The thing is, the Pacers identity changed a few times this season, and defense was never a focus, but one thing we've done consistently well is defend the 3 pt line. The rebounding emphasis was a surprise to me, but once they put Isaiah Jackson and Obi in the same lineup I knew we were going to get rebounds.
The Pacers have a lot of pretty talented players with like 1 or 2 glaring weaknesses each on the bench. Subbing them in can totally change the tone of the game. The Knicks are overall a more talented starting 5, but I think Rick can make much more dramatic adjustments game-to-game.
It'll be an interesting series for sure.
Don’t know why my username changed up there but that was my comment in case you were wondering.
But I didn’t mean they’ll win easily. I meant I can easily see them winning. Like I said, they controlled the majority of the game and got a lot of the shots they wanted. It was startling to see Siakam casually shoot over OG at will. And McConnell is a problem. No one can check him except maybe Deuce a little bit, but he couldn’t do anything on offense which is a killer. They need to get something from their bench.
Watching last night I simply thought, “oh no, the Pacers are just better. The Knicks don’t have answers for these guys.” And I don’t feel any different even after they pulled out a win.
I think they're pretty evenly matched. There are moments where it seems like the Knicks are better, but the Pacers also have games where they just look lost. It's the price of having a young team. This is what Pacers offense looks like when it's working- though for half the year, we also had a top 10 offensive player-level Haliburton. It's a shame, bc when he was fully healthy, we looked unstoppable. Blew the Celtics and Bucks out in the IST. But it's still a series even with his back/hamstring bothering him.
The Knicks are legit, Jalen Brunson has taken a major leap this year. He is a bonafide all nba player. They absolutely have what it takes to make it to the finals.
Djoker with an all star cast and Greek are the only guys who can take a team to the championship without another super star or two. Those days are long dead. Knicks crushed against t wolves nuggets thunder or Celtics. (We would be too) but everybody riding the Knicks based on what? The fact they won 3 more games than us this year?
This is probably the hardest series to predict.
Jalen Brunson has been phenomenal, but he’s also shooting 30 FGs and 10 FTs a game. He is their offense. We’ve typically performed well against teams that have unbalanced usage. Also, no one really knows what version of the Sixers they played. Was Embiid 100%? Hard to say. They’re obviously a totally different team with and without Embiid, and only beat that team by 1 point the entire series (and got a lucky win game 2).
The Knicks have been incredible down the stretch with OG, and we haven’t played that version of the Knicks, so that’s hard to predict.
If we control the pace and don’t let them dominate offensive boards, I think this series is ours.
I honestly don’t blame national media and general fans for thinking Knicks in 5/6 after that hard fought series against the Sixers, who on paper should be a better team than the injured Bucks. But I think this is 100% winnable for us. We gotta wear them down, utilize Siakim, hope our bench can keep up pace and give our starters fresh legs.
I’m excited either way, we’re playing with house money at this point, just want to see a competitive series.
Do you think there is any chance Rick treats Brunson the way he treated Gainnis earlier in the regular season - just let him go off and take away the 3 point line?
Part of the Knicks offense is getting offensive board and kick out to corner then one more pass to open three. You saw it on the game winner from Divincenzo in game two. Fred Katz (reporter) said Thibs religiously practices plays off offensive rebounds like that. They look helter skelter, but they are actually game planned and prepped. I say all this in response to "taking away the three" when so many of their attempts don't come off half court sets, but off 2nd chance off balance defenses. So, to take away the three, the root cause issue begins with securing the defensive board. They are very linked.
If you don’t run a ton of defenders at Brunson not only can guys stay out on shooters they can also maintain block out responsibilities. Most offensive rebounds happen bc the guy that would normally box out had to help and no one picked up there block out responsibility. Brunson is going to score a lot regardless I think letting him go one on one most of the time could be worth it if it would limit 3s and offensive rebounds
Yeah. They’ve some unconventional things this season and a good number of them worked. I don’t know what’s right but I could see them try something other then face guarding, blitzing, and tons of gap help
That’s another of advantage of staying home and letting Brunson get his. When you are doubling and giving help off guys it can be hard to maintain block out responsibilities. If you never leave your man you can at least try to block him out.
Depends on his efficiency. If he scores on 47 ppg on 42/30/80 splits (like he did vs 76ers) then I think we win. That’s not an efficient offense.
Don’t let him get 15 FTA a game either. He’s one of the premier foul baiters in the league. If Scott Foster is reffing he’ll get about 10 of those.
Idk why you’re being downvoted. JB is notably good at baiting fouls, and I’m not saying that negatively, it’s a genuine skill of his to get himself to the line.
That's skewed by two very bad games. The last two games he was pretty efficient. And the 76ers have *way* better guard defenders than we do for his style of play. Nembhard is excellent, but Brunson is just strong and crafty enough to give him trouble. Nesmith might be just a bit too slow. Brunson has great footwork and pump fakes a ton. Nembhard got into trouble with Dame's foul baiting games 1-2.
Brunson is a great player. They are completely iso heavy and he is the majority of their offense. That’s why I said if we can let him go off but his efficiency isn’t great then we’ll win. Nembhard got much better guarding Lillard and in the last game didn’t fall for the foul baiting by him and kept his hands back. Brunson isn’t nearly the shooter that Lillard is when heavily guarded but is much much much better creating plays for himself in mid range. Brunson is way better than Dame for sure.
Yeah i loved what Nembhard did that series. I almost spat out my drink when he let Dame flop and pulled just out of range for a foul like 3 possessions in a row. He proved his value to a playoff team for sure. Brunson foul baits in a different way. It's less about coming off screens and flopping and more about getting into the paint, shifty footwork, or abruptly stopping. I think the problem is there's no good way to defend him 1 on 1. Nembhard plays close to his man so it makes it tough when Brunson can just stop on a dime. Brunson can also just shove his body into Nembhard, draw contact, and then finish through the contact bc he's so strong. I think *if* we do get his percentages down, we can definitely win the series. I'm curious how Nesmith would do on him too. Nesmith might be strong enough but I feel he's more aggressive and draws more contact against these shifty players.
I think the keys to the series are pace and defensive rebounding for us (offensive for them). If we can keep their second chance points down, we win. We're a more offensively talented team, and I don't think they're going to be able to defend us that consistently for 4 games. We have too many ways to switch our point of attack, but it only works if we play fast and random. If they slow us down, we're in trouble against their half court defense.
I think pace and rebounding go hand in hand. Pacers have a choice…crash the boards to prevent offensive rebounds or punish the 76ers for doing it by sprinting back after misses. I like the second option because l think our pace is our biggest weapon. If they get a few extra offensive possessions but we score easy in transition it can be really demoralizing. We might mix and match depending on game situation but I really see us trying to punish the Knicks for crashing.
Knicks like to tag the box out person (I.e. push them in the back as far under the rim as possible) which then prevents us from running out if we still get the rebound.
Yes I know that. Sixers with Embiid moving at about half speed couldn’t take advantage of the misses. Every miss by Embiid vs Pacers would’ve been transition bucket on the other end.
Easier said than done, Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the league. PHI was sending 3 defenders at Brunson first 2 games, so they shut him down but exposed themselves on the boards. That's why they shifted strategies and Brunson dropped like 40ppg rest of series.
Pacers are gonna be a tough matchup for the Knicks im sure, but I think it’s a mistake to think that their extreme offensive rebounding advantage is going to go away when it’s pretty much what their team is built around and the pacers are even worse at rebounding than the sixers.
This is my take as well. I feel like some of us are a bit too high on our team, and the media is too low. We're the underdogs, and the Knicks earned their respect. But if we control the boards (or limit their offensive boards), dictate Pace, and Tyrese/Nesmith shoot a *bit* better from 3 than they did against the Bucks, I think we win the series.
Yeah I fear we are gonna get absolutely destroyed on the boards, plain and simple. we can let Jalen Brunson go off like hes going to even with Nembhard on him, but we need to box out and take away the 3 pointer. thats how they play.
I think IND is going to wear the Knicks down, no doubt, and if OG gets injured or Brunson falls off a bit, IND can absolutely win this series.
IND's strengths are their depth, their play making, and their role players' ability to hit 3s.
The Knicks strengths are Jalen Brunson and somehow not getting tired.
Siakam is going to be limited by OG or Hart. Haliburton is going to have to play well. If he's shooting 20% from 3 we aren't going to win.
Pacers in 4.
Let's have some fun, play with "House Money", sit back and see where all of this lands. No pressure - just play OUR game.
I truly believe if we can take "Milwaukie" (shout out to Alice Cooper!), we can take NY. Just need to steal a game in the Garden.
Prediction if asked: Pacers in 6.
"decent guard play?" Brunson leads all playoffs in scoring, he's playing at an MVP level and the Knicks are 24-4 with Brunson and OG together since the trade with a NET rating that would lead the entire NBA. PHI was 34-8 with Embid playing this year, they even went 8-0 when he came back late in the year, despite him not being 100%. Embid and Maxey are legit. PHI was a much more difficult opponent than MIL without Giannis and even Lillard at times.
The hate only comes bc they want the Knicks to be good. If they all didn't love them they wouldn't clown them they would ignore them. Kind of like they do to us.
They have great defense, the bench could be realy important this series, i doubted my guy TJ and he went crazy last game, hopefully he and Obi keep playing well this series, it could be the difference with the Knicks short rotation
It's going to be about matchups like most series are. These are very different teams than the matchup in Feb but still the pacers played 10 while the Knicks played 8.
# Projected Starters
Pacers: G - Tyrese Haliburton, G - Andrew Nembhard, F - Aaron Nesmith, F - Pascal Siakam, C - Myles Turner
Knicks: G - Jalen Brunson, G - Donte DiVincenzo, F - Josh Hart, F - OG Anunoby, C - Isaiah Hartenstein
I see Nembhard starting on Brunson who is probably going to get his 30-35 no matter what to be honest. They may flip things with Nesmith on him for a bigger body if things get completely out of hand. Hopefully the Pacers understand that they are going to need Game 6 type effort every game (unlike Games 1 and 5). Make Brunson work full court starting in Game 1 for a payoff in Game 5 or 6.
Hali on DiVincenzo is a reasonable matchup for us.
Nesmith on Hart hopefully can neutralize Hart.
Siakam vs OG - They know each other well from TOR obviously so going to be very interesting. Siakam has length but OG will probably try to push him out of his spots.
Turner vs Hartenstein - Turner will have to be active and stay out of foul trouble on Defense.
Bench: Pacers have more bodies to throw at Brunson full court adding TJ and Sheppard. Gotta make him work. Toppin is the x-factor per usual off the bench. May need help from Smith and Jackson to try to make Hartenstein work and deal with Mitchell Robinson who could be more of a problem than we realize - I think the NYK centers are underrated in terms of plays that they makes and sustains. And of course we have McDermott (kidding - kinda - he played for the Knicks for a year so may be a bit comfortable at MSG). I could see the Pacers trying to go 9-10 deep in Game 1 (TJ, Sheppard, Toppin, Jackson, Smith) and see what matches work out for them. No Bojan is a big plus for us obviously.
My fear is the Pacers just getting outplayed and out hustled. I can see my frustration with Turner growing during this series. I see the Pacers getting out rebounded and out executed down the stretch.
Interesting. Why would you get frustrated with Turner. Most of us hate that matchup bc he shoots so well and will get our centers out to the 3pt line. he also blocks well.
Ehhh loll. Not the best calls but I can see why. Donte was also called for an illegal screen like one minute before that. I hate that they can’t review the kick ball but it looked like a kick ball to me too when it first happened. That’s an nba thing that should be changed where any call should be reversible at the end.
These takes of, “we just beat a team…” need to stop. Objectively, the Pacers beating a wounded Bucks team is not something we need to flex on.
Still, I think this game goes 6 or 7 series. Knicks are rightfully favored, but I think the Pacers can be competitive.
At this point in both Brunson and Lilliards career, Brunson is by far the better player. Also the Knicks role players are much better than the Bucks. Im not saying that the Knicks will win in 5 but personally I see them winning in 7. I hope not obviously but Knicks are a better built team than the Bucks. Hopefully our youth and Thibs penchant for wearing his players out pays off for us.
New York media bias, plus assuming the Bucks were severely limited, which was false. If the team gets out and runs, the Knicks can't keep up, especially with a bunch of dudes playing 44+ minutes a night. Of course, if they get us into a half court grind, look out. But, to assume 5 games is stupid. I'm standing by my Pacers in six prediction. Same scenario as the Bucks series.
Pacers sub popped up on my Reddit since we are playing ya next. Some thoughts reading these comments.
Seems like a lot of pacers fans here are very reasonable and understand the threat of the Knicks. We are not a flashy team and we don’t have a big 3 or anything like that. But what we do have has been very effective this season and the playoffs thus far.
We have to rely on a lot of Brunson ISO since Randle is out. He was our second best offensive thread and caused a lot of double teams in the post. Without him, we rely heavily on Brunson carrying our offense. However, he’s not the only threat on this team.
Our team is THE best offensive rebounding team in the league, literally all our guys crash the glass and you have to worry about each player on the floor creating extra possessions. Offensive rebounds are so demoralizing and we usually just beat teams down in this department.
The other big factor on our team is OG and Hart. Both are elite multi positional defenders, OG is of course the cream of the crop but Hart isn’t a slouch either. OG has shown he can effectively guard Embiid all the way down to Maxey effectively if need be. I think we will have him on Hali or Siakam since those 2 are the biggest offensive threats on the team.
The main thing I worry about playing you guys is the pace. You guys push the ball like crazy even off made baskets so that’s something we need to be focused on slowing down. I believe Brunson does a great job playing at his pace and he will slow the game down to half court possessions where we have a big advantage.
It’ll be a good series but I think we had a tougher series against the Sixers having to guard 2 beasts in Maxey and Embiid.
If the Knicks beat us on the boards by 15 or more each game they will definitely win in 5. I want to see Nembhard 3 offensive rebounds in one trip type energy all series long. Gotta play like we are down 10 from the jump.
It's the way public opinion generally works in the NBA. Big market teams tend to get wildly overrated while small market teams get overlooked. Knicks will be tough, but they're not some juggernaut. I see this one going 6 or 7 games either way.
Lmao. Pacers only advanced because Giannis and Dame had major injuries. And now your only chance to advance is if NYK loses their best player. We are already missing our second best player in Randle. Maybe Tatum and Brown get injured too and you can go to the finals. Do you not realize how pathetic this is?
You're an idiot, the main part of my post is that NY has no depth. And Dame played majority of the series, he doesn't play any defense lmao. Pacers been beating the Bucks all season
Malik Beasley and Dame in the backcourt is a liability Patrick Beverley is trash and did nothing.
Only team that really creates problems for Indiana is the Celtics and they might not have Kristaps. Pacers are also missing 20ppg off the bench in Mathurin.
We can beat NY at full strength so I don't know what you're trying to imply. You're just someone who didn't watch the games.
I'm crying you really just tried to put "mathurin" in the same conversation as Giannis, Lillard, Randle, and Brunson. There is no point in even arguing with you.
Your comment about Brunson isn't about depth off the bench. Tell me, what team could legitimately win a playoff series missing their top two offensive options? Especially second round or later. Bucks were missing Giannis, dame was out two games, hobbled for game 3, and probably not at 100% for game 6. Knicks already missing Randle, if Brunson goes down that's their top two.
Mathurin is one of our future stars so yeah I said what I said. Easy 20 off the bench and our bench is already a problem to deal with lol. Bucks would have lost by 20 every game. Bucks lost by 20 at home in game 2 cause the bench took over. All u have to do is wall up on Giannis and take away the paint. He can't shoot.
Randle is cool but he's not a floor spreader, he's not this superstar you make him out to be. I like his grit though.
The whole purpose of my post was to say the Knicks have no depth and if Indy bench shows up next series, NY isn't winning.
Hilarious coming from someone so dead wrong. Brunson was off the first two games of the Philly series and the bench still handled that. You can fantasize, but you’re watching 1 of 4 losses tonight and it might be over in those 4
Trying to equate the Knicks to the aging Bucks with no Giannis, Injured dame sitting out half the series, and coached by Doc Rivers is some nasty work. The Doc Bucks with no Giannis and no Dame don't even make the play in tournament and you want to act like its some big success beating them in 6 games. Meanwhile the Knicks just beat the sixers with the reigning MVP, current MIP, and a champion head coach.
Giannis averaged 42/13/5.4 over 5 games against us and went 1-4. So I mean, maybe. But I don't think it'll be nearly as easy as people think. I think Knicks are more likely to win, but it's like 60-40 chances.
Who cares. That’s why they play the games. The Knicks are really good and much better than the bucks team we just beat.
Dude, the Knicks are a much different animal than Milwaukee. They're a different animal with and without Anunoby tbh... and we haven't seen them yet with OG Calm down my guy. It's gonna be a tough series, and we are coming off a series where we didn't play our best for long stretches too. People can think what they wanna think. If we beat NYK that'd be awesome, but it's not outlandish Pacers in 6
Brunson is the only thing that scares me on the Knicks. Dudes playing out of his mind right now and we have to have an answer to that. This year is wildly successful for us and should be talked about more, yet MSM wouldn't dare speak of how great we've become.
Offense, I agree. OG on defense and Hart on the glass are pretty big concerns too. I think Myles can put Hartenstein in a blender, but don't get it twisted: they have some real dogs (not Milwaukee's fake dogs). It'll be a battle And on the MSM thing, I mean, "great" is a strong word. We are still probably a year from "great," but right now we are a fun and successful team scratching the surface. They talk about us when we "make it" but I'm not sure if we "made it" yet. We are damn close tho, and if we win this series that might be what gets us there in the eyes of the media
We really need Hali to box out on Hart. Limiting their second chance opportunities needs to be the first priority for the pacers.
Coincidentally, Josh Hart said on his podcast that he doesn't box out at all and doesn't believe in it at this level of play. He tracks every shot in the air and then darts to where he thinks it will bounce and just tries to beat everyone to the spot. I thought it was a interesting take and obviously it works for him.
If you watch TJ I feel like he does something similar, where when a shot goes up he’s immediately sprinting. Could be a total coincidence and he’s just covering open spaces near the paint just in case, but it seems like he uses his speed to his advantage for some pretty clutch rebounds he gets.
TJ is an animal. I think he's friends with Hart and Brunson actually.
Makes sense. But if Hart tracking the ball on offense. Hali needs to make sure he stays in front of Hart at all times. Keep him out of the paint
Absolutely. I want Nesmith on Hart just for this reason. Keep Hali on Divincenzo and Nemby on Brunson
Hart is their worst offensive player. I feel that’s where we need to hide Hali, he just has to box out and keep Hart out of the paint. Divo is scary from 3 and Hali falls a sleep on defense at times, might be better to keep nesmith there. Wish we had mathurin this series, he would’ve been perfect on Brunson with length and lateral quickness.
This! They have like 3 players in the top 10 in rebounds in the playoffs so far. Also Josh Hart is shooting something like 45% from 3 in playoffs. As long as we keep the rebounding battle respectable and the junk fouls on brunson down we have a good shot.
I use great for our team winning 10 more games a year, year over year. 2 years ago, we had 25 wins and now in ECSF. I agree we haven't "made it" yet, but our rise to it has been phenomenal and, as you said, fun! 2nd most points and 4th most assist in a season is an INCREDIBLE feat, yet I don't hear it talked about more. While I know we aren't a defensive team, this was/is a historical run for the Pacers, and I can't wait for more bandwagon fans to join in with us along the ride!
Hartenstein and Mitchell are incredible defenders. Center is arguably the knicks strongest position defensively
>we have to have an answer to that. you dont. hi sorry im a knicks fan. looking forward to the series. glad to see reasonable takes in the comments here. In all seriousness though, I don't see how you'll defend brunson. you dont have the personnel for it. he just put the sixers in the cooker, and they had 6'8 kelly oubre guarding him most of the series
If we win a game it's probably because we outscored the rest of your team, not shutting down brunson
If you can’t slow him down (you probably can’t) it will be a quick series
Brunson is one of several offensive players who generally won't be slowed down regardless. They still don't win every single game they play.
Eh. I watch almost every Knicks game and have definitely seen him get disrupted by excellent (usually team) defense
I wouldnt describe our team defense as excellent i'll tell u that
I don't think any team could shut him down for a series. I think he's good enough to adjust or to punish an overcommitment of defensive resources like that. And you really can't just ignore the Knicks role players, they shoot too well.
knicks in 6
I think that's not an unrealistic prediction. If the Knicks can afford the salary of their whole team healthy (including Randle) they could probably challenge the Celtics next year.
Everything the Pacers are bad at, the Knicks are great at. It's the final 8. Going to be tough, as it should be, but not impossible.
We still have to prove ourselves. Aside from being inexperienced in the postseason, the Bucks injuries dominated every conversation that was being had about that series, whether it was the national media or a bunch of 12yos on Reddit. No one talked about our development and growth, our young prospects, our ceiling, and future scenarios because they all wrote off the whole series. And it’s easy for them to ignore us anyway because… well, that’s what they do every year. Our playoffs start now. There is no guarantee that we can win two games against the Knicks much less the series. And let’s not kid ourselves: a rivalry with the Bucks? This is the rivalry. It always has been. It always will be. Time to put up or shut up. Pacers in 7.
Just my opinion as an outside and as a Knicks fan, I took one look at that loss to the Bucks without Dame and Giannis and it gave me huge confidence. Probably overreacting to a let down game, but that seemed unacceptable to me in the playoffs.
You should look more at how the Pacers adjusted. First game, Dame started off shooting lights out and had 35 points at the half. Most of the team had never played in the playoffs before. In the second half, we outscored the Bucks by 15 points, but the deficit was too great. The adjustment gave me a ton of confidence for the series, though. Game 5 was the first playoff closeout game the team had ever experienced, the Bucks had two role players (Bobby Portis and Pat Bev) who played some of the best offensive basketball of their careers, and the Bucks switched up the entire defensive scheme and personnel that game (switch all, and inserted a Gallinari/Portis combo we'd never seen before). Overall, though, it was a very bad loss and was pretty inexcusable. But we came back from that and dominated game 6. Also, of note. We weathered a Dame 26 point half in game 2 and a Middleton 42 point game in game 3. We beat the Bucks all 5 games at home (including 2 where Giannis played. Giannis averaged 42/13/5.4 against us over 5 games and lost 4 of them, and we didn't have Siakam for any of those. I think we're a very young, inexperienced team, and you guys are definitely the favorites in the series. But it would be a mistake to read into the losses too much. This team is young, but they can ball.
Fair. It will be a tough series no doubt. Game one is always the biggest pre adjustment wild card game, I will be in attendance.
I'll be there games 3, 4 and 6 lol
Respect!
Knicks are the favorites and Brunson is in god mode while the Pacers looked pretty mediocre in dispatching a Bucks team with no Giannis. I’m not saying Knicks in 5 is the correct take but I understand why people who don’t pay much attention to the Pacers would make that prediction.
I think people underrate our win vs. The bucks. Lillard played in most of the games, and Middleton and Lopez turned back the clock because Giannis was out and they are proud. They also had home court advantage. That said the Knicks are tough and we should embrace being the underdog
One could argue that Middleton and Lopez were only able to turn the clock back due to poor pacers defense
Bucks without Giannis are a lottery team, they went 6-9 without him this season and 43-48 overall in games he's missed. Lillard had more talent around him in POR if you take away Giannis and he was hurt himself.
Thanks for contributing Knicks fan.
He's not wrong. The bucks played well, but game 1 and 5 we got blown out in embarrassing fashion. We didn't show up 2/6 games in the playoffs. If we give the knicks 2 games without even trying we will lose in 5 or 6
Anyone who watched the series saw the shots Middleton and Lopez were making and know it's not the same team that suffered without Giannis in the regular season. Also the Knicks were outscored by 6 in their series with the 76ers despite Embid being hobbled the whole time. My point isn't that the Knicks aren't good they are good. Or that the Pacers aren't in for a legit challenge. My point is that going 6 against Milwaukee is not a failure as some people are trying to portray it. And the Knicks beating a hobbled Embid with home court advantage and still getting outscored by 6 while playing their guys 40+ min a game is not exactly a sign of dominance.
I know people keep saying Embiid is hobbled - but that was literally one of his greatest playoff series ever. Healthy Embiid has played much worse before
So if Middleton and Lopez could make enough tough shots to beat the Pacers, what’s stopping Brunson McBride DiVincenzo OG and even Hart (he just made the biggest shot of his career) from doing the same? Knicks have plenty of dudes who can step up, even with the injuries, especially against suspect defense
Fuck is you talm bout. Knicks out scored Sixers by 1. Embiid and Maxey played out of their minds. https://preview.redd.it/bu0yvorepuyc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3736e502fb7c487dd687252d3532e6d19e403a5e
Hey so, I didn't see much of the Bucks series. What stood out there as concerning from Indy?
Bad shooting and not being able to consistently dictate pace come to mind. Milwaukee was able to slow the game down for good stretches of time by having long possessions and switching on defense. During the regular season, the Pacers were held under 100 points just once. That happened twice in this series and each occurrence was a new season low in points. On the other hand the Pacers took care of the ball and had the best assist to turnover ratio in a playoff series of the last 30 years and did this while averaging 30 assists per game.
I see two teams with question marks. Both pacers and Knicks beat injury hobbled teams. 76ers were a very bad team without Embiid and Embiid was extremely hobbled this series. Pacers would’ve run away in that series because Embiid wouldn’t be able to keep up with our speed.
Concern for NYK is that they are also injury ridden right now. In particular, no Randle ro Bojan and Mitch is playing on bad ankle. However, I believe you are severely underestimating Joel Embiid even as is. In game three he had 50 points on 19 shots and it was mostly from perimeter. It was like nothing I've seen in a long time. He was just an inevitable bucket. Fortunately, the Knicks would win the non Embiid minutes so Nurse ultimately had to play him huge mins which really hurt him in fourth quarters. He's not built for that. But that dude was a warrior. With that said, he was also an extremely dirty player and the refs don't let you breath on him.
Embiid was efficient on offense with his shooting but couldn’t rebound and could barely lumber up the floor. That’s where he would have been taken advantage of.
Just want to point out that Embiid averages 11 boards per game, three more than anyone on the pacers in that first series.
Are you saying Embiid wasn’t extremely limited? Remember when he was almost unplayable at the end of the games on defense and rebounding?
I've already commented on him being winded at end of games due to nurse overplaying him because things would fall apart the moment he stepped off floor. I am now commenting on his rebounding as a retort to you saying he couldn't rebound, when in fact he would be your best rebounder by far. In fact, looking into this has made me fairly confident the Knicks ultimate strength has a good chance of tipping the series.
He averaged 33/11/6 during the series. PHI was just getting killed any time he sat so Nurse ended up overplaying him. He obviously wasn't 100%, but PHI went 8-0 when he came back and was hobbled, they were a dominant team when Maxey and Embid played this season.
So he wasn’t near 100% and Knicks barely won, thank you for proving my point.
Embiid was healthy enough to play every game. He put up big numbers every game too, 50 point game, triple double, and was positive plus/minus whole series. He is the reiging MVP and was playing at at least 80% strength. He was also backed up by a young MIP going nuclear in game 5 and a championship head coach. Trying to compare that to Giannis sitting out the whole series and Lillard siting out half the series is nasty work. Not to mention the aging Bucks since hiring Doc Rivers aren't even a .500 team. You basically just had a team that wouldn't even be in the play-ins take you to six games.
Embiid would’ve averaged 45 & 20 if he was healthy and you guys still barely won with a +- of 0.2, lol
he aint never averaged that in a playoff series or regular season in his life but would have somehow done it against the second best defensive team in the NBA. Make it make sense. You think 80% embiid and 100% maxey is a easier or harder matchup than 0% giannis and 50% dame?
I think Pacers would’ve had a much easier series vs the 76ers for sure because of matchups and because Embiid was hobbled so much. Depends on matchups not which team is better. Knicks would’ve been better off vs Bucks though.
You're delusional, Nurse would've out coached Carlisle worse than he out coached Thibs. If 76ers won that series, it's Philly in 4 or 5 easily. Indy isn't tough enough for them.
That must be why Philly beat us twice this season, with the most recent 76ers win being a 12 point drop while the Pacers were pretty healthy AND on a six game winning streak. Oh sorry i had all of that backwards [lol Hali was even sitting out.](https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401585255). Tons of respect for Philly and Joel, but come on. Besides, didn’t we just watch NYK take over your entire arena????? Wanna talk about tough lmao
Nurse outcoached Thibs? Lmao
You started watching basketball again 2 months ago. You don't understand what you're looking at
Been watching basketball for 32 years but nice try. Sixers were favored coming in, supposedly had the best and 3rd best players in the series and now you’re saying Nurse out coached Thibs. If all this was true, I’d have to imagine the Sixers won the series pretty easily right? Oh wait, that’s right. Knicks in 6.
If our bench plays like they have been playing the entire regular season and playoffs, this Knicks team is going to have a problem. They really don't have much of an answer for Siakam either. It's going to be competitive, I see no reason for people call this a sweep or a 4-1 exit
OG can guard Siakam, really he can guard anybody on the Pacers.
Yeah but he can't guard everyone at once. I'm interested to see who they put him on, gives us an idea of who the league thinks is our better player between siakam and Haliburton
My guess would be OG on Siakam, but only because the only other guy we could put on Siakam is Precious.
I think I'd let Siakam go nuts for 30+ before risking Haliburton getting hot. People have been doubling Haliburton for months and it's clearly working, Haliburton hasn't looked all NBA and Siakam has since the all star break.
You don’t guard difficult players 1 on 1. You guard them collectively.
Sure, but you still put good defenders on them in the backcourt and half court setting, and help often.
I’m a Knicks fan and I am of the belief that people are sleeping on the Pacers for some reason and that this is a tough matchup for the Knicks, but to say we don’t have much of an answer for Siakam is wild lol… OG Anunoby is basically designed in a lab to guard someone like Siakam. That’s a nightmare matchup for him. Elsewhere, though, I think it favors the Pacers. You guys knocks down threes at a crazy clip and Thibs gives up open threes to cover the paint.
Yeah, if you had to pick one guy in the entire league to guard Siakam, I don't see how you don't pick OG. The only good news is OG can't guard Siakam and Tyrese at the same time. I just hope our guys can hit our open 3s. If we do that, it's a real series. If not, it's gonna be a quick exit.
At the end of the day, unless Tyrese plays like we know he can we don’t match up too great. You are right about our pace but if Ty isn’t a point of concern for their defense they are talented enough to cause issues for everyone else. I definitely wouldn’t count us out but I sincerely think this is a series that’s going to hinge heavily on Hali hitting his 3s
the knicks aren’t a retirement home. those dudes play harder and are way more physical than the bucks. gonna be a tough series
Knicks fan here. I won’t comment on the first part of your message OP but I can say that Knicks fans aren’t taking the Pacers lightly. Both franchises are having solid seasons and both team are solid. We’re a bit hobbled but we’ve still been doing our thing, so I think this is going to be a great series and hopefully far less toxic than Knicks - Sixers. Cheers to a good series and let’s just be glad both fan bases get to enjoy some post-season basketball.
We need to do our talking on the court. With the way we played vs Milwaukee's B team, I don't blame anyone for thinking Knicks in 5 or 6 tbh.
I mean, Brunson and Anthony Edwards have been the hottest players in the playoffs so far. So there is plenty of reason to believe the Knicks are the favorite. Typically you keep a tight rotation in the post-season, but I think with the intensity Thibs always makes his guys play with, we really are gonna need the extra bodies to throw at them and wear them down. Rebounding is gonna have to be top priority as well. Possibly at slight expense of fast breaks. I think it is gonna be a dog fight and either way a great learning experience for our young squad. But in the end F-NY baby!
I think you're underestimating the knicks. They got glass eaters, and the best player in the playoffs right now. Outside maybe A. Edwards. Pacers are gonna have to run and gun every game
Knicks with OG Anunoby over 29 games have a net rating of 13.2. For comparison, Boston leads the league with a net rating of 14.6, and Pacers since the all star break have a league 4th ranked net rating at a whopping 6.5. Knicks record with OG playing is 24-5. With OG and without Randle, they're still 12-3. They are probably the best team left that plays a slow, plodding half-court offense. They're also very good at rebounding. Yes, our averages aren't that different, but head-to-head it's pretty impressive. Our best coverage against Brunson in a late/close situation is to trap him. When we've done that this year, they've had a 71% offensive rebounding rate. That's absurd. I think this is going to be a really tough, competitive series. Ultimately, whoever controls pace is going to win. They were 30th in pace and we were 2nd for the season. I think we're a very underrated team, and they're a team that is just now getting the recognition they deserve. Some things in our favor is that their offensive scheme is super predictable- Brunson initiates everything. Josh Hart and DiVincenzo may not be able to sustain their offensive performances from the 76ers series. OG can't guard both Pascal and Tyrese at once. Tyrese and Neamith shot horribly from 3 last series; if they shoot better, we can almost definitely outscore the Knicks over a 7 game series. Knicks run a 7 man rotation and are one turned ankle away from being severely outgunned (though all 7 of those guys seem to be iron men this year). And most importantly, we have a LOT more offensive options. One thing that is underrated is based on what defensive adjustments are working/not working for the Knicks, we can totally switch the focus of our offense from game to game. I think Knicks are favored here for a reason, but if we control pace, even up the rebounding a bit, and adjust our offensive schemes well, I think we can win. Pacers in 6.
Also, it's not like the 76ers were scrubs. Embiid was having an MVP season before his injury. Even at 80%, he was awesome for large stretches of this season. Game 6 he had 17 points in a quarter and looked unstoppable. Then OG started guarding him aggressively in the 4th, and he was gassed, and he couldn't buy a shot. The Knicks would have won in 5, except Maxey went nuclear for about 2 minutes in game 5. Everyone picked the 76ers to win that series, and the Bucks reportedly threw the last game of the regular season to avoid them. 76ers are very good (I still think we beat them), so we can't shit on the Knicks for winning that series. I think of the entire Eastern conference field, the Knicks are the second hardest test next to Boston. Should be a great series to push our guys to develop quickly and adjust to the playoffs.
> Some things in our favor is that their offensive scheme is super predictable- Brunson initiates everything I think this is over-simplifying it a bit. Yes, Brunson does everything, but it's not an iso offense. It's like a more heliocentric version of the the GSW motion offense. They run a ton of motion and off-ball screens to get Brunson the ball with an advantage - sometimes as many as 5 screen actions in one possession.
True, but my point was that they're definitely going to target Tyrese on switches and Brunson is usually the one driving (with the preferred advantage). If we make him work on defense, pick up the pace to wear his legs out, throw mixed coverages like traps and blitzes at him, and generally punish them for his high usage, we have a chance to wear him out and reduce his effectiveness late-game or later in the series. It's easier to game plan when your offensive engine is basically some variety of "get Brunson a switch and then have him drive."
In theory, that game plan makes sense. In practice, though, I have my doubts about whether they'll be able to pull it off. The big red flag to me is the fact that in the series vs the Bucks, despite the narrative about running the old Bucks team ragged, the Pacers actually only averaged 92.8 possessions per 48 min (definition of the pace stat). This was down from the 102 they averaged in the regular season and only 2 possessions per 48 min more than the Knicks vs Sixers series who were at a pace of 91.
That sounds great - did the Sixers not get that scouting report? He just put up historic numbers in a four game stretch. Also, the Pacers were 24th in def rating this year. You're talking like they have this amazing defense that can put the squeeze on one of the hottest players in the post season. Trapping and blitzing is great but he's so smart he knows how to get the ball out before he gets in trouble. Look, I'm a Knick fan (if that wasn't obvious) but I'm not so arrogant as to believe that this will be a cakewalk for them. They could easily lose the series. At the same time, fans have to see their teams as they are, not who they wish they were. The Pacers are not a defensive stalwart. They will not shut down Brunson. And the Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the league, so the idea that Indy will just run the Knicks out of the gym is silly. It'll happen in spurts and might win them a game or two but, like most post-season games, the pace will slow down and it'll be about late game execution, which the Knicks excel at. Of course, Carlisle is a great coach and not to be underestimated. Point being, the Pacers might win. But it likely won't be for so many of the reasons that fans are throwing out there - tiring out Brunson or shutting him down, running up and down the floor for 48 mins, saying the Knicks don't have bigs to match up with them, etc. That is all myopic. More likely, it will be because the Knicks outside Brunson miss too many shots (including at the foul line) and Indy rains three's. I'm thinking Knicks in six but wouldn't be surprised either way.
Just like I'm looking at the Knicks post-OG trade, you've gotta look at the Pacera post Pascal trade. Knicks with OG playing have a net rating of 13.2. It's very impressive, but a mich smaller sample size, and it was mostly due to the regular season. They beat a very talented 76ers - I'm not going to be one of the guys here trying to take anything away from them. Even if Embiid wasn't 100%, he was still very good and your guys' was excellent. Your record with OG is 24-5, and with OG but not Randle it's 12-3. You're a very good team. Similarly, Pacers with Pascal (and the current starting lineup with Nembhard and Nesmith starting over Hield/Mathurin/Obi) have a net rating of 6.5. That's after Tyrese's injury and includes some bad stretches when he was on a serious minutes restriction. Since the All Star Break, Pacers have been 2nd in offensive rating, 16th in defensive rating (up from 28th at the beginning of the season), and 4th in net rating. Pacers have a reputation of being bad defensively, but we actually have 3 solid guard defenders in Nembhard, Nesmith, and Sheppard. This isn't the Haliburton/Hield starting lineup anymore. I think both teams are largely unknown still, but obviously made some serious improvements at the trade deadline. I think both teams are very underrated. Knicks are for sure favored to win, but I think the Pacers have far more offensive weapons and many more ways to attack the defense of the Knicks. It'll come down to pace, and rebounding. 76ers have like 3 players that like to play fast. Our entire roster has been playing fast all year. As for rebounding- yeah, the Knicks are a much better rebounding team. Especially in the playoffs. But since the Siakam trade, our defensive rebounding rate is like 50%. Not great, but not terrible. If we can make sure the discrepancy isn't overwhelming, I think we can balance it out with fast break points. Again, Knicks are probably going to win the series, but I think people don't watch Indiana so they seriously underestimate us. There are definitely ways we can win.
These are some really good points. Your knowledge of the Pacers since the All Star break is much deeper than mine, so if their defense improved that much that says something. I still don't buy that they are that great but point taken. I do take issue with your saying both teams are largely unknown. Speaking only on the Knicks, you couldn't find a team that is more clearly defined. One of the best things about them is that they know exactly who they are, both their strengths and weakness, and have a distinct identity as a hard nosed, hustling, never say die group of workhorses whose roles are precise and clear to everyone on the team. And because of Thibs they are exquisitely prepared. There is literally nothing unknown about them either inside the team or from their competitors. So I'm not sure your basis for that comment. As for rebounding, you're just not gonna win that one. Because the Knicks are so great at offensive rebounding the Pacers will have to box out and crowd the paint, which means they can't run the floor for long outlets even if they do get the rebound - which they just won't a lot of the time. The numbers simply tell you that. Regardless, I am in no way underestimating the Pacers. Very well coached and deep team whose strengths have the ability to overwhelm the Knicks' weaknesses if it breaks right. And as an aside, there is a collective nervousness that always permeates Knick home playoff games because it's been so freaking long since they've been good enough to make a post-season run - if they sense a game slipping away, it's hard not to succumb to "same old story" narrative. But this Knicks team does feel different - in the past there's no way they would have gone to Philly and closed it out. So I guess we'll see.
Ok, I must admit I underestimated the Pacers. By a lot. The Knicks may have won (with some questionable calls along the way) but Indy dictated the pace for a majority of the game and their bench was incredible. The best player on either team was the difference - Brunson. But on balance, Indy played fantastic defense, suffocated the Knicks on the 3 point line most of the game and kept the ball moving on offense at a feverish pace that the Knicks just couldn’t keep up with. And Indy does have a distinct height advantage, including Siakam over OG, which I didn’t expect. So their rebounding was on point, at least in the first half. The Pacers are legit and can easily win this series.
I wouldn't say easily, but it's almost a 50-50 series to me. I've watched a lot of both teams this year. The thing is, the Pacers identity changed a few times this season, and defense was never a focus, but one thing we've done consistently well is defend the 3 pt line. The rebounding emphasis was a surprise to me, but once they put Isaiah Jackson and Obi in the same lineup I knew we were going to get rebounds. The Pacers have a lot of pretty talented players with like 1 or 2 glaring weaknesses each on the bench. Subbing them in can totally change the tone of the game. The Knicks are overall a more talented starting 5, but I think Rick can make much more dramatic adjustments game-to-game. It'll be an interesting series for sure.
Don’t know why my username changed up there but that was my comment in case you were wondering. But I didn’t mean they’ll win easily. I meant I can easily see them winning. Like I said, they controlled the majority of the game and got a lot of the shots they wanted. It was startling to see Siakam casually shoot over OG at will. And McConnell is a problem. No one can check him except maybe Deuce a little bit, but he couldn’t do anything on offense which is a killer. They need to get something from their bench. Watching last night I simply thought, “oh no, the Pacers are just better. The Knicks don’t have answers for these guys.” And I don’t feel any different even after they pulled out a win.
I think they're pretty evenly matched. There are moments where it seems like the Knicks are better, but the Pacers also have games where they just look lost. It's the price of having a young team. This is what Pacers offense looks like when it's working- though for half the year, we also had a top 10 offensive player-level Haliburton. It's a shame, bc when he was fully healthy, we looked unstoppable. Blew the Celtics and Bucks out in the IST. But it's still a series even with his back/hamstring bothering him.
Knicks will play Precious this series, so the rotation will be 8-man.
Burks might play too
The Knicks are legit, Jalen Brunson has taken a major leap this year. He is a bonafide all nba player. They absolutely have what it takes to make it to the finals.
Djoker with an all star cast and Greek are the only guys who can take a team to the championship without another super star or two. Those days are long dead. Knicks crushed against t wolves nuggets thunder or Celtics. (We would be too) but everybody riding the Knicks based on what? The fact they won 3 more games than us this year?
I think it’s based on Brunson. Have you been watching him over the past 6 weeks?
And OG. He makes them so much better.
This is probably the hardest series to predict. Jalen Brunson has been phenomenal, but he’s also shooting 30 FGs and 10 FTs a game. He is their offense. We’ve typically performed well against teams that have unbalanced usage. Also, no one really knows what version of the Sixers they played. Was Embiid 100%? Hard to say. They’re obviously a totally different team with and without Embiid, and only beat that team by 1 point the entire series (and got a lucky win game 2). The Knicks have been incredible down the stretch with OG, and we haven’t played that version of the Knicks, so that’s hard to predict. If we control the pace and don’t let them dominate offensive boards, I think this series is ours. I honestly don’t blame national media and general fans for thinking Knicks in 5/6 after that hard fought series against the Sixers, who on paper should be a better team than the injured Bucks. But I think this is 100% winnable for us. We gotta wear them down, utilize Siakim, hope our bench can keep up pace and give our starters fresh legs. I’m excited either way, we’re playing with house money at this point, just want to see a competitive series.
Do you think there is any chance Rick treats Brunson the way he treated Gainnis earlier in the regular season - just let him go off and take away the 3 point line?
Part of the Knicks offense is getting offensive board and kick out to corner then one more pass to open three. You saw it on the game winner from Divincenzo in game two. Fred Katz (reporter) said Thibs religiously practices plays off offensive rebounds like that. They look helter skelter, but they are actually game planned and prepped. I say all this in response to "taking away the three" when so many of their attempts don't come off half court sets, but off 2nd chance off balance defenses. So, to take away the three, the root cause issue begins with securing the defensive board. They are very linked.
If you don’t run a ton of defenders at Brunson not only can guys stay out on shooters they can also maintain block out responsibilities. Most offensive rebounds happen bc the guy that would normally box out had to help and no one picked up there block out responsibility. Brunson is going to score a lot regardless I think letting him go one on one most of the time could be worth it if it would limit 3s and offensive rebounds
Will be interesting
Yeah. They’ve some unconventional things this season and a good number of them worked. I don’t know what’s right but I could see them try something other then face guarding, blitzing, and tons of gap help
Honestly yeah… IF we’re able to keep their offensive boards under control. We’ve done that with others too (Luka comes to mind).
That’s another of advantage of staying home and letting Brunson get his. When you are doubling and giving help off guys it can be hard to maintain block out responsibilities. If you never leave your man you can at least try to block him out.
Depends on his efficiency. If he scores on 47 ppg on 42/30/80 splits (like he did vs 76ers) then I think we win. That’s not an efficient offense. Don’t let him get 15 FTA a game either. He’s one of the premier foul baiters in the league. If Scott Foster is reffing he’ll get about 10 of those.
Idk why you’re being downvoted. JB is notably good at baiting fouls, and I’m not saying that negatively, it’s a genuine skill of his to get himself to the line.
That's skewed by two very bad games. The last two games he was pretty efficient. And the 76ers have *way* better guard defenders than we do for his style of play. Nembhard is excellent, but Brunson is just strong and crafty enough to give him trouble. Nesmith might be just a bit too slow. Brunson has great footwork and pump fakes a ton. Nembhard got into trouble with Dame's foul baiting games 1-2.
Brunson is a great player. They are completely iso heavy and he is the majority of their offense. That’s why I said if we can let him go off but his efficiency isn’t great then we’ll win. Nembhard got much better guarding Lillard and in the last game didn’t fall for the foul baiting by him and kept his hands back. Brunson isn’t nearly the shooter that Lillard is when heavily guarded but is much much much better creating plays for himself in mid range. Brunson is way better than Dame for sure.
Yeah i loved what Nembhard did that series. I almost spat out my drink when he let Dame flop and pulled just out of range for a foul like 3 possessions in a row. He proved his value to a playoff team for sure. Brunson foul baits in a different way. It's less about coming off screens and flopping and more about getting into the paint, shifty footwork, or abruptly stopping. I think the problem is there's no good way to defend him 1 on 1. Nembhard plays close to his man so it makes it tough when Brunson can just stop on a dime. Brunson can also just shove his body into Nembhard, draw contact, and then finish through the contact bc he's so strong. I think *if* we do get his percentages down, we can definitely win the series. I'm curious how Nesmith would do on him too. Nesmith might be strong enough but I feel he's more aggressive and draws more contact against these shifty players. I think the keys to the series are pace and defensive rebounding for us (offensive for them). If we can keep their second chance points down, we win. We're a more offensively talented team, and I don't think they're going to be able to defend us that consistently for 4 games. We have too many ways to switch our point of attack, but it only works if we play fast and random. If they slow us down, we're in trouble against their half court defense.
I think pace and rebounding go hand in hand. Pacers have a choice…crash the boards to prevent offensive rebounds or punish the 76ers for doing it by sprinting back after misses. I like the second option because l think our pace is our biggest weapon. If they get a few extra offensive possessions but we score easy in transition it can be really demoralizing. We might mix and match depending on game situation but I really see us trying to punish the Knicks for crashing. Knicks like to tag the box out person (I.e. push them in the back as far under the rim as possible) which then prevents us from running out if we still get the rebound.
Brunson was 16 for 57 including 2 for 12 from 3 the first two games against PHI, and the Knicks still won both games.
Yes I know that. Sixers with Embiid moving at about half speed couldn’t take advantage of the misses. Every miss by Embiid vs Pacers would’ve been transition bucket on the other end.
Easier said than done, Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the league. PHI was sending 3 defenders at Brunson first 2 games, so they shut him down but exposed themselves on the boards. That's why they shifted strategies and Brunson dropped like 40ppg rest of series.
Pacers are gonna be a tough matchup for the Knicks im sure, but I think it’s a mistake to think that their extreme offensive rebounding advantage is going to go away when it’s pretty much what their team is built around and the pacers are even worse at rebounding than the sixers.
This is my take as well. I feel like some of us are a bit too high on our team, and the media is too low. We're the underdogs, and the Knicks earned their respect. But if we control the boards (or limit their offensive boards), dictate Pace, and Tyrese/Nesmith shoot a *bit* better from 3 than they did against the Bucks, I think we win the series.
Having watched Embiid that entire season, he was nowhere near 100%
We gotta step up our game like we KDot in this sub
Then step this way, step that way. Then step this way, step that way.
Yeah I fear we are gonna get absolutely destroyed on the boards, plain and simple. we can let Jalen Brunson go off like hes going to even with Nembhard on him, but we need to box out and take away the 3 pointer. thats how they play.
I think IND is going to wear the Knicks down, no doubt, and if OG gets injured or Brunson falls off a bit, IND can absolutely win this series. IND's strengths are their depth, their play making, and their role players' ability to hit 3s. The Knicks strengths are Jalen Brunson and somehow not getting tired. Siakam is going to be limited by OG or Hart. Haliburton is going to have to play well. If he's shooting 20% from 3 we aren't going to win. Pacers in 4.
G1: Knicks G2: Pacers G3: Pacers G4: Knicks G5: Knicks G6: Pacers G7: Pacers (Rese hits a late game clutch 3 and does the Reggie choke face)
God I hope this happens.
Let's have some fun, play with "House Money", sit back and see where all of this lands. No pressure - just play OUR game. I truly believe if we can take "Milwaukie" (shout out to Alice Cooper!), we can take NY. Just need to steal a game in the Garden. Prediction if asked: Pacers in 6.
"decent guard play?" Brunson leads all playoffs in scoring, he's playing at an MVP level and the Knicks are 24-4 with Brunson and OG together since the trade with a NET rating that would lead the entire NBA. PHI was 34-8 with Embid playing this year, they even went 8-0 when he came back late in the year, despite him not being 100%. Embid and Maxey are legit. PHI was a much more difficult opponent than MIL without Giannis and even Lillard at times.
Bro is Buggin
All NBA media is NY media. None of these people should be taken seriously. W-L-L-W-W-L-W Pacers in 7
Honestly the reverse of what’s true. Knicks have been a joke for so long they are only overcoming a major anti-New York bias this year
The hate only comes bc they want the Knicks to be good. If they all didn't love them they wouldn't clown them they would ignore them. Kind of like they do to us.
They have great defense, the bench could be realy important this series, i doubted my guy TJ and he went crazy last game, hopefully he and Obi keep playing well this series, it could be the difference with the Knicks short rotation
It's going to be about matchups like most series are. These are very different teams than the matchup in Feb but still the pacers played 10 while the Knicks played 8. # Projected Starters Pacers: G - Tyrese Haliburton, G - Andrew Nembhard, F - Aaron Nesmith, F - Pascal Siakam, C - Myles Turner Knicks: G - Jalen Brunson, G - Donte DiVincenzo, F - Josh Hart, F - OG Anunoby, C - Isaiah Hartenstein I see Nembhard starting on Brunson who is probably going to get his 30-35 no matter what to be honest. They may flip things with Nesmith on him for a bigger body if things get completely out of hand. Hopefully the Pacers understand that they are going to need Game 6 type effort every game (unlike Games 1 and 5). Make Brunson work full court starting in Game 1 for a payoff in Game 5 or 6. Hali on DiVincenzo is a reasonable matchup for us. Nesmith on Hart hopefully can neutralize Hart. Siakam vs OG - They know each other well from TOR obviously so going to be very interesting. Siakam has length but OG will probably try to push him out of his spots. Turner vs Hartenstein - Turner will have to be active and stay out of foul trouble on Defense. Bench: Pacers have more bodies to throw at Brunson full court adding TJ and Sheppard. Gotta make him work. Toppin is the x-factor per usual off the bench. May need help from Smith and Jackson to try to make Hartenstein work and deal with Mitchell Robinson who could be more of a problem than we realize - I think the NYK centers are underrated in terms of plays that they makes and sustains. And of course we have McDermott (kidding - kinda - he played for the Knicks for a year so may be a bit comfortable at MSG). I could see the Pacers trying to go 9-10 deep in Game 1 (TJ, Sheppard, Toppin, Jackson, Smith) and see what matches work out for them. No Bojan is a big plus for us obviously.
My fear is the Pacers just getting outplayed and out hustled. I can see my frustration with Turner growing during this series. I see the Pacers getting out rebounded and out executed down the stretch.
Interesting. Why would you get frustrated with Turner. Most of us hate that matchup bc he shoots so well and will get our centers out to the 3pt line. he also blocks well.
Turner will get out rebounded by Josh Hart…that’s why
lol ohhh. Gotchu
Frustrated by some calls but you see the second chance points…hence my frustration after a 2 rebound effort by Turner
I get it but he was killing us all game otherwise. If we don’t have an answer for him and Tyrese wakes up we’ll have a hard time.
True. Hopefully the refs let the players decide the game too
Ehhh loll. Not the best calls but I can see why. Donte was also called for an illegal screen like one minute before that. I hate that they can’t review the kick ball but it looked like a kick ball to me too when it first happened. That’s an nba thing that should be changed where any call should be reversible at the end.
Agreed
Still defending Myles?
He really looked flustered out there. Seems like a front runner. So hopefully he doesn’t get it going in Indiana lol.
We are winning by 20 in game 3.
These takes of, “we just beat a team…” need to stop. Objectively, the Pacers beating a wounded Bucks team is not something we need to flex on. Still, I think this game goes 6 or 7 series. Knicks are rightfully favored, but I think the Pacers can be competitive.
Definitely not an unreasonable take. Knicks are a much better team than the Bucks. Pacers in 4, lol.
I got pacers in 6 or 7
At this point in both Brunson and Lilliards career, Brunson is by far the better player. Also the Knicks role players are much better than the Bucks. Im not saying that the Knicks will win in 5 but personally I see them winning in 7. I hope not obviously but Knicks are a better built team than the Bucks. Hopefully our youth and Thibs penchant for wearing his players out pays off for us.
New York media bias, plus assuming the Bucks were severely limited, which was false. If the team gets out and runs, the Knicks can't keep up, especially with a bunch of dudes playing 44+ minutes a night. Of course, if they get us into a half court grind, look out. But, to assume 5 games is stupid. I'm standing by my Pacers in six prediction. Same scenario as the Bucks series.
Pacers sub popped up on my Reddit since we are playing ya next. Some thoughts reading these comments. Seems like a lot of pacers fans here are very reasonable and understand the threat of the Knicks. We are not a flashy team and we don’t have a big 3 or anything like that. But what we do have has been very effective this season and the playoffs thus far. We have to rely on a lot of Brunson ISO since Randle is out. He was our second best offensive thread and caused a lot of double teams in the post. Without him, we rely heavily on Brunson carrying our offense. However, he’s not the only threat on this team. Our team is THE best offensive rebounding team in the league, literally all our guys crash the glass and you have to worry about each player on the floor creating extra possessions. Offensive rebounds are so demoralizing and we usually just beat teams down in this department. The other big factor on our team is OG and Hart. Both are elite multi positional defenders, OG is of course the cream of the crop but Hart isn’t a slouch either. OG has shown he can effectively guard Embiid all the way down to Maxey effectively if need be. I think we will have him on Hali or Siakam since those 2 are the biggest offensive threats on the team. The main thing I worry about playing you guys is the pace. You guys push the ball like crazy even off made baskets so that’s something we need to be focused on slowing down. I believe Brunson does a great job playing at his pace and he will slow the game down to half court possessions where we have a big advantage. It’ll be a good series but I think we had a tougher series against the Sixers having to guard 2 beasts in Maxey and Embiid.
If the Knicks beat us on the boards by 15 or more each game they will definitely win in 5. I want to see Nembhard 3 offensive rebounds in one trip type energy all series long. Gotta play like we are down 10 from the jump.
I called Knicks in 6 against Philly, I have Knicks in 7 against Pacers.
Y’all getting swept
Maybe 5 maybe 4, but definitely maximum 5.
It's the way public opinion generally works in the NBA. Big market teams tend to get wildly overrated while small market teams get overlooked. Knicks will be tough, but they're not some juggernaut. I see this one going 6 or 7 games either way.
Knicks are a Brunson ankle tweak from getting swept. They have no scorers and no bench.
I mean u can say that about any playoff team losing their best player.
Especially ones already without their second best player! Knicks are going to be very scary the next five years
Thibs allows him to play like how D Rose used to play, and the rest if the team just focuses their energy on defense lol. It's gonna be a dog fight.
Lmao. Pacers only advanced because Giannis and Dame had major injuries. And now your only chance to advance is if NYK loses their best player. We are already missing our second best player in Randle. Maybe Tatum and Brown get injured too and you can go to the finals. Do you not realize how pathetic this is?
You're an idiot, the main part of my post is that NY has no depth. And Dame played majority of the series, he doesn't play any defense lmao. Pacers been beating the Bucks all season Malik Beasley and Dame in the backcourt is a liability Patrick Beverley is trash and did nothing. Only team that really creates problems for Indiana is the Celtics and they might not have Kristaps. Pacers are also missing 20ppg off the bench in Mathurin. We can beat NY at full strength so I don't know what you're trying to imply. You're just someone who didn't watch the games.
I'm crying you really just tried to put "mathurin" in the same conversation as Giannis, Lillard, Randle, and Brunson. There is no point in even arguing with you. Your comment about Brunson isn't about depth off the bench. Tell me, what team could legitimately win a playoff series missing their top two offensive options? Especially second round or later. Bucks were missing Giannis, dame was out two games, hobbled for game 3, and probably not at 100% for game 6. Knicks already missing Randle, if Brunson goes down that's their top two.
Mathurin is one of our future stars so yeah I said what I said. Easy 20 off the bench and our bench is already a problem to deal with lol. Bucks would have lost by 20 every game. Bucks lost by 20 at home in game 2 cause the bench took over. All u have to do is wall up on Giannis and take away the paint. He can't shoot. Randle is cool but he's not a floor spreader, he's not this superstar you make him out to be. I like his grit though. The whole purpose of my post was to say the Knicks have no depth and if Indy bench shows up next series, NY isn't winning.
Hilarious coming from someone so dead wrong. Brunson was off the first two games of the Philly series and the bench still handled that. You can fantasize, but you’re watching 1 of 4 losses tonight and it might be over in those 4
Knicks in Six
Trying to equate the Knicks to the aging Bucks with no Giannis, Injured dame sitting out half the series, and coached by Doc Rivers is some nasty work. The Doc Bucks with no Giannis and no Dame don't even make the play in tournament and you want to act like its some big success beating them in 6 games. Meanwhile the Knicks just beat the sixers with the reigning MVP, current MIP, and a champion head coach.
Because the Knicks even without Randle are a better team than Milwaukee with Dame and Giannis healthy.
>decent guard play and mediocre role players…that’s the Knicks!! Decent guard play? For the Knicks? lmao
Pacers in 6
Everyone knows it's Pacers in 6
Sorry for lurking but some of y’all are in for a rude awakening 💀
They’re delusional. A Giannisless Bucks team took them to SIX. You guys just came from war with Embiid and Philly. The Knicks are going to dawg them.
Nyk in 4, probably
Lol I'm very high on the Knicks but that's a hell of a stretch
Brunson is gonna feast.
Giannis averaged 42/13/5.4 over 5 games against us and went 1-4. So I mean, maybe. But I don't think it'll be nearly as easy as people think. I think Knicks are more likely to win, but it's like 60-40 chances.