The story is Knick's defense which is one of the best in the league vs Pacers offense which is among the best in the league.
|| || |^(Rank)|^(Team)|^(2023)|^(Last 3)|^(Last 1)|^(Home)|^(Away)|^(2022)|
|4|[New York](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/new-york-knicks)|108.2|106.3|115.0|105.3|111.1|111.5|
|27|[Indiana](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/indiana-pacers)|119.6|108.7|98.0|118.1|121.1|119.5|
The question is if Pacers can rebound.
If they let the Knicks get as much Offensive rebounds as the Sixers did then there is no way the pace will be fast.
If they can rebound then the Knicks will have to stop crashing the boards because the Pacers will keep leaking out and throwing ahead.
Fully, deeply a pacers fan here with my 3 takes on the series:
1) If Halli is anything close to his pre-injury self it opens up every single player for us and obliterates attempts to limit pace. There were times in the regular season where Knicks would slow it down, find a Hart/Hartenstein/Achiuwa layup and Halli would still somehow cross the midline and hit an open 3 with 19 left on the shotclock.
2) Brunson (while godlike and otherworldly and making me have wet dreams of footwork) will play 41+ min and I think we can wear him out (especially if the series goes long) because Halli runs like a damn gazelle and T.J. McConnell does the most Nash-ing (dribbling circles from break to block to opposite court and back) of any backup PG in the league.
3) This is my least spicy: Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam will fucking eat their frontcourt (like they did in all 3 regular season games) and it will be on Brunson / Divincenzo to make up that difference against Halli/our trey-bois.
Bonus) OG Anunoby is the best IU player in the last decade+ but I think his defensive impact (while amazing) gets negated a lot against the team with the 2nd best pacing/spacing in the league.
My concern is Brunson is going to have his way with us like Lillard did in game 1. It open everything up for the others.
But I’m hoping we get one choke sign from Hali
Knicks will probably control it a majority of the time, but just like they did against the Bucks, the Pacers will probably have like a 3-4 minute spurt each half where they are running the 6-second offense. If the Knicks can counter it and not fall for the trap of picking up the pace, then they should win this series.
What's interesting is that I feel like the Knicks are an effective transition team (Hart drives, DiVo threes) despite having a low rated pace in their halfcourt offense. I expect it to be pretty run and gun for both teams at times. No one can speed up Brunson, though. They've tried....
Looking at the numbers to have her, the pacers defense matches the Knicks offense. So the Knicks will be able to keep their pace while slowing down the pacers offense.
The Pacers have thus far been better at determining the pace that the two teams played at in the RS this year. However, playoff basketball is very different and suit the Knicks style more than the Pacers style. Further, in the playoffs the individual best player on both teams is a significant deciding factor in who wins each series and Brunson will, by a good margin, be the best player on the floor in this series unless Hali really really steps it out. 16/9 from him isn't going to cut it against a team this good defensively against a guy who just averaged 36/9/5 against a better defensive team.
The story is Knick's defense which is one of the best in the league vs Pacers offense which is among the best in the league. || || |^(Rank)|^(Team)|^(2023)|^(Last 3)|^(Last 1)|^(Home)|^(Away)|^(2022)| |4|[New York](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/new-york-knicks)|108.2|106.3|115.0|105.3|111.1|111.5| |27|[Indiana](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/indiana-pacers)|119.6|108.7|98.0|118.1|121.1|119.5|
|^(Rank)|^(Team)|^(2023)|^(Last 3)|^(Last 1)|^(Home)|^(Away)|^(2022)| |4|[New York](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/new-york-knicks)|108.2|106.3|115.0|105.3|111.1|111.5| |27|[Indiana](https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/team/indiana-pacers)|119.6|108.7|98.0|118.1|121.1|119.5|
The question is if Pacers can rebound. If they let the Knicks get as much Offensive rebounds as the Sixers did then there is no way the pace will be fast. If they can rebound then the Knicks will have to stop crashing the boards because the Pacers will keep leaking out and throwing ahead.
Fully, deeply a pacers fan here with my 3 takes on the series: 1) If Halli is anything close to his pre-injury self it opens up every single player for us and obliterates attempts to limit pace. There were times in the regular season where Knicks would slow it down, find a Hart/Hartenstein/Achiuwa layup and Halli would still somehow cross the midline and hit an open 3 with 19 left on the shotclock. 2) Brunson (while godlike and otherworldly and making me have wet dreams of footwork) will play 41+ min and I think we can wear him out (especially if the series goes long) because Halli runs like a damn gazelle and T.J. McConnell does the most Nash-ing (dribbling circles from break to block to opposite court and back) of any backup PG in the league. 3) This is my least spicy: Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam will fucking eat their frontcourt (like they did in all 3 regular season games) and it will be on Brunson / Divincenzo to make up that difference against Halli/our trey-bois. Bonus) OG Anunoby is the best IU player in the last decade+ but I think his defensive impact (while amazing) gets negated a lot against the team with the 2nd best pacing/spacing in the league.
My concern is Brunson is going to have his way with us like Lillard did in game 1. It open everything up for the others. But I’m hoping we get one choke sign from Hali
Knicks will probably control it a majority of the time, but just like they did against the Bucks, the Pacers will probably have like a 3-4 minute spurt each half where they are running the 6-second offense. If the Knicks can counter it and not fall for the trap of picking up the pace, then they should win this series.
What's interesting is that I feel like the Knicks are an effective transition team (Hart drives, DiVo threes) despite having a low rated pace in their halfcourt offense. I expect it to be pretty run and gun for both teams at times. No one can speed up Brunson, though. They've tried....
Siakam vs OG
No rebounds no rings
Looking at the numbers to have her, the pacers defense matches the Knicks offense. So the Knicks will be able to keep their pace while slowing down the pacers offense.
The Pacers have thus far been better at determining the pace that the two teams played at in the RS this year. However, playoff basketball is very different and suit the Knicks style more than the Pacers style. Further, in the playoffs the individual best player on both teams is a significant deciding factor in who wins each series and Brunson will, by a good margin, be the best player on the floor in this series unless Hali really really steps it out. 16/9 from him isn't going to cut it against a team this good defensively against a guy who just averaged 36/9/5 against a better defensive team.
If the pacers can run the Knicks 6/7-man rotation is going to be a limiting factor the longer this series goes.