¡CINCO DE KNICKO!
-VS-
Game Time Start: 3:30 PM ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Officials: D. Crawford, M. Davis, M. Smith, E. Lewis
Television:
Radio: WFNI 1070 AM / WEPN 98.7 FM
Media Notes: Indiana Notes, New York Notes
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PACERS Danny Granger - left knee surgery (out) KNICKS Steve Novak - back spasms (doubtful) Amar'e Stoudemire - right knee debridement (out) |
Jared Wade: Pacers vs. Knicks Preview - Where Do These Teams Stand? The State of the Pacers and Knicks is tough to ascertain. All season long, they were the second- and third-best best teams in the Eastern Conference. With all due respect to the Nets (which after last night, really isn’t much), there was never a time when any of Brooklyn, Chicago, Atlanta or Boston looked like they were in the same weight class as Indiana and New York. To start the year, the New York boys were superior. They began the season looking like the 1970 Knicks re-incarnated, smoking all comers. They won their first six games (including victories over Miami and in San Antonio), and raced out to an 18-5 record (10-0 at home) by December 15. At the time, they were hitting an outlandish 41.0% of their threes while taking more than 29 per game and scoring at a rate of 111 points per 100 possessions. It was madness. People were talking about Carmelo for MVP. Meanwhile, the Pacers sucked. Danny Granger was a last-minute scratch (to the public anyway) from the roster, and the newly anointed young leaders of the team were playing like dirt. Roy Hibbert, fresh off a huge summer payday, couldn’t make a shot. Paul George was dribbling around in pick-and-rolls like a baby deer learning to walking, trying to split double teams that he couldn’t split, turning the ball over carelessly and throwing passes into the stands. The Pacers were losing to teams like the Bobcats, Raptors and Timberwolves while barely getting by the Kings and Wizards. Then the roles reversed somewhat. New York lost on Christmas then lost Raymond Felton to injury. It changed the whole dynamic of their offense. When Amar’e Stoudemire returned, playing his first game on New Year’s Day, the team’s on-court identity changed even further. New York went 16- 12 in the 28 games Stoudemire played. He wasn’t the sole cause (Ray’s injury was huge, their earlier play was unsustainable, Carmelo cooled off, etc.), but it was a long stretch when a juggernaut turned into just another pretty-good team. The team’s fans and analysts started to doubt whether this team could hang with the conference’s best. Which at the time were the Heat, obviously, and … the Pacers. As New York fell, the Pacers — and especially Paul George — started putting it all together. Their defense became historically great, and there wasn’t a team in the league that could dominate them. Indiana was essentially in every game as points were hard to come by and they subjected the opposition to a grinding, disciplined defensive philosophy that no...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s |
Tom Ziller: Knicks vs. Pacers preview In the regular season, Paul George was awesome and the Knicks shot the hell out of the three. Will either happen in the second round? Neither the New York Knicks nor the Indiana Pacers had particularly easy times of it in the first round. It took six for each to advance, and the Knicks almost let their opponent, the Boston Celtics, come back from a huge deficit to send it to seven. But alas, the clear- cut second- and third-best teams in the East meet for a chance to, in all likelihood, face the juggernaut Heat in the East finals. This series, however, is anything but clear-cut. Here are two factors that I feel loom large: The reliability of Paul George George is the Pacers' top scorer and possibly best player. He was pretty good in the first round. Well, in four of the games. He was mediocre in another and pretty awful offensively (2-10, four points, seven rebounds, seven assists) in Indiana's clinching Game 6 win. Needless to say, the Pacers really need Good Paul George to beat the Knicks, who are substantially better than the Hawks. One of the great things about George is that even when he shoots poorly, he contributes. In the first round he averaged 9.5 rebounds and five assists per game. But Indiana is so light offensively that the team really needs those points. George shot the three poorly against Atlanta (7-25, .280) after racking them up all season long (36 percent on six attempts per game). But he was able to make up for it by getting to the line much more frequently than usual; he averaged eight free throw attempts per game in Round 1, after getting just 3.5 per game in the regular season. The shot wasn't falling, so he attacked. This was especially evident in Game 1, when he went 0-5 from long-range but earned 18 FTAs. It's worth noting that the Knicks are mediocre at defending the three (No. 15 in the NBA in opponent three-point percentage) and quite willing to foul (No. 24 in opponent free throw rate). The Knicks had a seriously mediocre defensive season, and while New York's defense looked fine against Boston most of the time, how much of that is attributable to an anemic Celtics attack is a legit question. The potential of Paul George to get loose and stay that way against New York is real. Whether he can do it consistently over a six- or seven-game series remains to be seen. (The other scorer for Indy, David West, is Mr. Reliable. Forgive...CONTINUE READING AT SB NATION |
Seth Rosenthal: Here are some thoughts about the Knicks-Pacers - This was a weird season series. The Knicks took that first game when the Pacers were still in their terrible first month of the season. They were still figuring out how to play sports without Danny Granger. The Pacers barely edged the Melo-less, Felton-less Knicks in Indiana in January, and neither J.R. Smith nor Amar'e Stoudemire played well in that game. The teams were at their completest in the February meeting, which saw the Pacers absolutely dismantle New York at home. That game was never close. Then the Knicks clinched their second seed with a pretty encouraging Chandler-less win over the Pacers in April (during the P&T meet-up). They forced 26 turnovers in that one. - And Indiana was the league's third most turnover-prone team this regular season, so there's reason to believe that kind of performance is repeatable (perhaps not 26 turnovers, but a lot). The Pacers also don't force many turnovers. - One of many reasons I'm sad the Knicks didn't sweep the Celtics is that Carmelo Anthony now has just one day to rest a still-sore shoulder (it sounds like it's been partially dislocated a few times, if that's a thing). And now he has to face David West, who is like the next evolution of Brandon Bass (Zubass -> Golbass) and liable to gnaw on that shoulder, and Paul George, who's a tougher defender than Jeff Green. - That said, if Melo has the mettle to attack and draw fouls consistently, that could make a huge difference in the series. The Pacers' bench looks nearly as weak as the Celtics', and it doesn't even hit threes. As a team, the Pacers were 22nd in the league in three-point percentage this season (worse than the Celtics). - When the Pacers do go with George on Melo, they'll probably have to do some weird mismatching and put West on Iman Shumpert. I feel much better about Shump's ability to punish that match-up than I did previously. - Then again, didn't Woodson talk about possibly going big against the Pacers? I hope he doesn't do that...CONTINUE READING AT POSTING AND TOASTING |
David Vertsberger: Are big lineups necessary to oust Indiana? From an opening night beatdown of the Miami Heat to their narrow victory over Boston in Game 6 of the first round, the New York Knicks have won many a game playing primarily with small lineups. These lineups often feature Carmelo Anthony — long believed to be a prototypical small forward — at the four spot. This not only helps space the floor for a thriving three-heavy offense; it also gives Anthony more room than he’s ever had to operate in isolation, seeing as how he’s sharing the floor with a single big man. On the flip side, having Anthony guard opposing power forwards — even if they’re bigger and stronger — has yet to curtail New York’s success with these lineups. However, this may change against the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers pride themselves on their physicality. The undeniable focal point of this persona is power forward David West, a 240-pound beast on the low block who overwhelms most “natural” fours. Anthony cannot be considered as such, and has struggled to contain the fierce West in their meetings this season: The one game in which West struggled to get going? Anthony was inactive and the Knicks went with a large frontcourt of Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby. Anthony’s ability to defend West in spurts notwithstanding, he’ll likely be battered and bruised within a few games. West plays a relentless...CONTINUE READING AT KNICKERBLOGGER |
2012-2013 Playoff Previews: New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers Somehow, the NBA survived its regular season and first round of the postseason with enough players to field eight teams, so we’re just going to go ahead and begin the conference semifinals. The minds behind Ball Don’t Lie are going to preview each second-round series, with Kelly Dwyer going against character for a more genial take, Dan Devine bringing his inimitable mixture of both order and bedlam, along with Eric Freeman’s legendary look inside the reputations of some of the series’ key fixtures. Kelly Dwyer’s Guide Vocal In a way, it’s probably best that the Atlanta Hawks as you’ve long known them (or, at least, long tolerated them) go out like this. In a first-round pairing with Indiana, with most games probably due for NBA TV airings, anonymous as all get out. We’re not going to pretend to know what’s going on in Danny Ferry’s head as he approaches an offseason that will lead to the expiration of coach Larry Drew and forward Josh Smith’s contracts, but based on Ferry’s fine work from last summer, it’s likely that the new’ish Atlanta GM is looking to clean house this July. After the slogfest that was the Indiana Pacers’ 4-2 first round victory over the Atlanta Hawks, a sloughing off seems in order. Forget the tired small vs. big market comparisons, the Pacers are relegated to the league’s second tier mostly because they play an unassuming, withering brand of at-times bland basketball. This group was created to minimize mistakes defensively, and attempt to hold its own offensively. And now April’s top NBA TV team will be working in a nationally televised month. The Indiana Pacers are also the worst possible thing that could happen to the New York Knicks right now. Indiana’s volatile mix of length, defensive smarts, capable quickness and potent depth will greet New York with what should be a terrifying problem. Even if the Knicks improve measurably on the disappointment that was the final three games of their series against the Boston Celtics, they will still be in for a test. A massive test. And that’s with Carmelo Anthony’s left shoulder still hurting, a shoulder that was originally hurt in a tough Knick win over the Pacers in the last week of the regular season. That’s with Tyson Chandler at less than full strength, J.R. Smith coming off of what was a questionable first round, and Raymond Felton set to square off against a pair of tough defensive guards in George Hill and Lance Stephenson. On paper, the Knicks are up against a team that seems designed to top them. There’s just one problem, for Indiana. It’s all that star power. It might get in the way of the paper leading the Pacers to their first conference finals in 13 years. Indiana could barely handle the glare of working on the road in Atlanta in the first round. The team wasn’t rattled, these are still professionals we’re talking about, but the middle of the first round was alarming...CONTINUE READING AT BALL DON'T LIE |
Matt Moore: Knicks/Pacers Series Preview - Muscle vs. Melo Did you love the 90's? Low-scoring, brutal affairs featuring a lot of hard fouls and ugly offense performances? Then this series is for you. It's offense vs. defense, with New York's isolation-heavy offense faces a much tougher defense than it faced first-round, when it wasn't great. There will be talk of the 90's rivalry, of Reggie and Spike, of the fights and toughness. But this series is about how the two teams have spent all season battling back and forth to determine who's the second-best team in the East. The Pacers are built around sharing the ball, playing good defense, and roughing up the opponent. The Knicks are built on crack shooting, star players, and drive-and-kick. It's a clash of styles. It will be ugly, it will be mean, and it will determine who the second-best team in the East is. What happened: Two-two split in the regular season. The Knicks won early in the season and late in the year, when they were at their best, the Pacers won in-between when they were at their best. Both teams shot over 50 percent exactly once in the series, and that was in the same game. There was a whole lot of grossness in this series through the regular season. You have a lot of bad attitudes that are about to collide. The big narrative: Who's tougher? The Knicks make tough shots. The Pacers throw tough shots. These games are likely to be low-scoring, slow-pace games that require a high level of execution in key situations. The Pacers have gotten very little publicity despite playing just as well or better than the Knicks for the majority of the year...CONTINUE READING AT THE POINT FORWARD |
Jared Dubin: Drive and Dish - Inside the Knicks Offense After another massively disappointing offensive showing in Game 5, the Knicks have the fourth worst offensive efficiency in the playoffs, and the second worst of the still remaining teams. Only Boston’s is worse. Their playoff performance represents a stark drop off from the magnificent offense the Knicks played for most of the regular season. New York’s offensive efficiency has dropped 12.3 points in the playoffs, per NBA.com, slumping from their 3rd ranked regular season mark of 108.6 to a 96.3 total that would rank dead last in the league, a full 1.5 points behind the dreadful Washington Wizards offense. When a team is struggling offensively, the first place to look for root causes is shot distribution. Shots in the paint are more efficient than jumpers, shots in the restricted area are more efficient than shots in the paint but outside the restricted area, shots from three are more efficient than shots from mid-range, corner threes are more efficient than above the break threes, etc. Unsurprisingly, the shot distribution is revealing. The Knicks have taken a higher percentage of their shots from the least efficient areas on the floor (in the paint but outside the restricted area, mid-range) while shooting a lower percentage of their shots from the highest efficiency areas (inside the restricted area, from three). As if that isn’t bad enough, the Knicks have also regressed in shooting performance in the areas where the majority of their shots come from. Already a below average team at shooting in the restricted area, the Knicks have been unable to finish anything around the basket in the first round. Their 52.9 percent conversion rate would have placed last in the league this season and is the worst of the 16 playoff teams this year. Of the 208 teams to make the playoffs since 2000, only 31 have shot worse in the restricted area during said playoffs. Only one team this millennium (the immortal 2003-04 Chicago Bulls) converted a lower percentage of their shots in the restricted area for a full season, and they checked in at 52.7 percent, just 0.2 percent worse than the Knicks’ playoff percentage. Another major source of the problem...CONTINUE READING AT HARDWOOD PAROXYSM |
Pacers Mike Wells @MikeWellsNBA Jared Wade @8pts9secs Tim Donahue @TimDonahue8p9s Tom Lewis @indycornrows |
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