2024 NBA Playoffs: East Semifinals: #2 New York Knicks vs #6 Indiana Pacers (IND WINS 4-3)

[Ursusamericanus]

The reason I believe you will still win the series is twofold:

1) You have a significant experience advantage. Almost all of your guys have been in big games before. For our team, though, it's the first time that most of these guys are playing in those kind of games. Only Pascal, Turner and McConnell had playoff experience before this playoff season. We are just too early in our trajectory for this.

2) Your team is far too tough to lose at home. They have too much heart for that.

It's a 3-game series now and 2 of those games are in MSG. The combination of your team's heart and toughness and our team's inexperience makes me believe that it is very, very unlikely that we win in MSG. It's why HCA matters.

I appreciate your non-bias but I think you're going too far in the other direction to not seem like a homer, respectively. Pacers have a better shot of winning Game 5 than Knicks do in Game 6 in my opinion. Game 4 was just 1 game - but the Knicks just looked dead tired to me. That's not just gonna suddenly go away in 2 days by Tuesday. Game 5 will be THE GAME to in at MSG compared to Game 7, and Pacers gotta' rise up and do it. Sure theoretically they are "too early in the trajectory" for this, but things can happen suddenly. The Suns just what 3 years ago went to the Finals with young guys like Ayton, Bridges, and Cam Johnson playing huge roles. It's not out of the question for a young team to get far.

Pacers don't have much playoff experience but they're also not THAT YOUNG either. I mean once you get to your 4th/5th year, you should be seasoned enough for any moment in my opinion. So the only guys who are 3rd year or less guys are Nembhard & Sheppard and they're not asked to do much anyway other than defend and shoot when open. Roster complexities can changed a lot in a short amount of time & thought he Pacers "should" improve next couple years they also got their BIG 3 - Haliburton, Siakham, & Turner - in their Prime right now, and a spark plug guy like McConnell will be hard to replicate as he ages or moves on too. Time is now due to their chemistry - and their opponents injury - to seize the moment and get to the Conference Finals.

I do agree with you when it comes to your assessment of the Pacers. It's true that while young, we aren't THAT young. We were the 8th youngest team in the league, not the youngest one. And, indeed, given the injuries that our opponents have faced so far, this is a golden opportunity for us.

And, yes, I would like to believe that we can win that game 6 in Indy. I just don't know if I can believe that we can win one at MSG. The Nova trio turns into the 90s Bulls in MSG. And they're so good in the 4th. We have shown that, given the current circumstances, we can definitely hang with them, even in MSG. But can we actually close a game out in MSG? I am just not certain that we can.

Haha. I remember you from the 2013 Knicks-Pacers series. Wild. At this point, I think the series is a near-toss up, maybe 55/45 for the Knicks. Game 5 determines the outcome IMO, because game 6 will involve an extra day of rest. Knicks are experienced, tough, and gritty, but hugely undermanned and running on fumes. I never expected this to be our year anyway, but hope we can make the ECF after a difficult Round 2 loss last season. Don't want that again.

[Nuntius]

I appreciate your non-bias but I think you're going too far in the other direction to not seem like a homer, respectively. Pacers have a better shot of winning Game 5 than Knicks do in Game 6 in my opinion. Game 4 was just 1 game - but the Knicks just looked dead tired to me. That's not just gonna suddenly go away in 2 days by Tuesday. Game 5 will be THE GAME to in at MSG compared to Game 7, and Pacers gotta' rise up and do it. Sure theoretically they are "too early in the trajectory" for this, but things can happen suddenly. The Suns just what 3 years ago went to the Finals with young guys like Ayton, Bridges, and Cam Johnson playing huge roles. It's not out of the question for a young team to get far.

Pacers don't have much playoff experience but they're also not THAT YOUNG either. I mean once you get to your 4th/5th year, you should be seasoned enough for any moment in my opinion. So the only guys who are 3rd year or less guys are Nembhard & Sheppard and they're not asked to do much anyway other than defend and shoot when open. Roster complexities can changed a lot in a short amount of time & thought he Pacers "should" improve next couple years they also got their BIG 3 - Haliburton, Siakham, & Turner - in their Prime right now, and a spark plug guy like McConnell will be hard to replicate as he ages or moves on too. Time is now due to their chemistry - and their opponents injury - to seize the moment and get to the Conference Finals.

I do agree with you when it comes to your assessment of the Pacers. It's true that while young, we aren't THAT young. We were the 8th youngest team in the league, not the youngest one. And, indeed, given the injuries that our opponents have faced so far, this is a golden opportunity for us.

And, yes, I would like to believe that we can win that game 6 in Indy. I just don't know if I can believe that we can win one at MSG. The Nova trio turns into the 90s Bulls in MSG. And they're so good in the 4th. We have shown that, given the current circumstances, we can definitely hang with them, even in MSG. But can we actually close a game out in MSG? I am just not certain that we can.

Haha. I remember you from the 2013 Knicks-Pacers series. Wild. At this point, I think the series is a near-toss up, maybe 55/45 for the Knicks. Game 5 determines the outcome IMO, because game 6 will involve an extra day of rest. Knicks are experienced, tough, and gritty, but hugely undermanned and running on fumes. I never expected this to be our year anyway, but hope we can make the ECF after a difficult Round 2 loss last season. Don't want that again.

Ah, that's why I thought your name sounded familiar!

The one thing that I know is that the next two (or three) games are gonna be close. We won't have another blow-out like the one today.

This is an interesting year for both of our teams. No one really expected either of us to have a chance at making the ECF and, yet, here we are. One of us will.

[lobosloboslobos]

Since OG Anunoby joined the Knicks they are 25-5 with him playing and 14-16 without him



sucks that he has such bad luck with injuries

Not surprising. We know OG is injury prone since we have watched him for years

we also know you've never said a good thing about him

[Im Coming Home]

Knicks are cooked, Brunson is hobbled and OG out, we just have too many key players either out with an injury or player injured and clearly not himself.

It sucks but it is the situation we are in, and this series is over, Pacers gonna win in 6.

[vulture]

Since OG Anunoby joined the Knicks they are 25-5 with him playing and 14-16 without him



sucks that he has such bad luck with injuries

Not surprising. We know OG is injury prone since we have watched him for years

we also know you've never said a good thing about him

Wrong. I love OG but he’s injured when you need him

[Nuntius]

31 free throws and the Knicks still couldn’t win? What more do the refs have to do?

Eh. 6 of them were Burks being fouled during two separate 3-point shots (and they were indeed fouls). 10 of them were in the 4th quarter, a time where both teams had cleared their benches and played end of the rotation players. So, really, we're talking about 15 FTs here which is nothing egregious.

I do not believe that the refs had anything to do with this game, one way or the other.

[whatisacenter]

Man, a lot of overreacting to this game.

It’s 2-2 headed back to NY. I know the Knicks are short handed but I’m nowhere near writing them off.

[Riverwalk2021]

We all know Indiana is ASS but the Knicks are literally on their last legs. I think this could go either way but it is destined to go 7 games.

[DaGawd]

Knicks are cooked, Brunson is hobbled and OG out, we just have too many key players either out with an injury or player injured and clearly not himself.

It sucks but it is the situation we are in, and this series is over, Pacers gonna win in 6.

i’m def a lot less confident than i was before game 2.. that brunson/og injury changed everything

[basketballwacko2]

Knicks are cooked, Brunson is hobbled and OG out, we just have too many key players either out with an injury or player injured and clearly not himself.

It sucks but it is the situation we are in, and this series is over, Pacers gonna win in 6.

I said a few days ago that injuries might swing the series. The Knicks are depleted and the Pacers are deep.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Last game I said Divincinzo was due to come down to earth.

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[ArksNetsSince99]

Knicks are cooked, Brunson is hobbled and OG out, we just have too many key players either out with an injury or player injured and clearly not himself.

It sucks but it is the situation we are in, and this series is over, Pacers gonna win in 6.

i’m def a lot less confident than i was before game 2.. that brunson/og injury changed everything

Like Green Arrow said , only if you all have Lin instead of Brunson …..

[Mavrelous]

The 2 most played Knicks lineups in the PO have 4 players in common
Brunson
IHart
JHart
DDV

If the 5th player is OG (played 48 minutes), NetRTG is 39!
If the 5th player is Achiwua (played 30 minutes), NetRTG is -34!

[Capn'O]

The 2 most played Knicks lineups in the PO have 4 players in common
Brunson
IHart
JHart
DDV

If the 5th player is OG (played 48 minutes), NetRTG is 39!
If the 5th player is Achiwua (played 30 minutes), NetRTG is -34!

What's crazy is with Randle it was even better but it was all the OG insertion. This was basically me all weekend:



This also highlights how the Bogdanovic injury hurt us as he was the one guy who could successfully spell OG.

[Jadoogar]

Knicks are running out of players and running out of steam. Unfortunately that's the consequences of players getting hurt and running your remaining starters into the ground. I'm not blaming Thibs, they aren't in this position without playing Hart and Brunson heavy minutes but that's the tradeoff.

If Pacers do advance to the ECF, it will be the like the Hawks a few years ago, it's not a "real" conference finals run. Don't make a risky all-in move based on a fool's gold run.

[kaansunman]

much needed blowout for Knicks, this proved that they are humans after all. at least they played less minutes and "rest" actively.

I am not much optimistic for Knicks if OG does not comeback. We were already shorthanded and now too small against Pacers.

One thing I am sure is there will be "Blood in the Garden" tomorrow night.

[Wizop]

Much has been written about Thib's short rotations in the regular season being a possible cause of injuries and a likely cause of tired legs, but it has also caused the starters and the reserves to not be familiar with playing with each other. OTOH, the Pacers are playing combinations that have often played together.

[durden_tyler]

For the first time this series, the Pacers are now (slightly) favored to win the series entering Game 5.

Such a sad, sad state for Knicks fans. i thought the wheels fall off in the Celtics series, but it’s going to happen this series apparently. (Still want NY to win but i don’t see it…)


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[Maury2423]

Much has been written about Thib's short rotations in the regular season being a possible cause of injuries and a likely cause of tired legs, but it has also caused the starters and the reserves to not be familiar with playing with each other. OTOH, the Pacers are playing combinations that have often played together.

I have to disagree with the possible cause of injuries being the short rotations because Randle, Mitch, and Bog’s injuries came from specific plays with physical contact.

You may be able to say the minutes played attributed to OG’s hamstring injury, I’m not buying that though, but he’s played like 30games with the Knicks and basically had 30days off in the middle of those 30games, plus OG has a history of being injured.

Brunson’s injury is also an odd one because nobody really knows where it happened, so that could be minutes related

When it comes to the lack of chemistry, for sure, the injuries are taking a toll because we would normally be 8-9deep if healthy but we’ve lost 4 key rotation guys, so it’s only natural that we have 2-3 non regular rotation guys out there. Our 8-9 man line up would likely look like….

Brunson
Divo
OG
Randle
Ihart

Hart
Deuce
Mitch
Bogs

Precious
Burks


Regardless of who is on the floor, there’s no excuse for the game yesterday. That was a terribly played game with no pride, we’ll bounce back in game 5 but we’ll see if we can win that game. There winner of game 5 wins the series

[Maury2423]

For the first time this series, the Pacers are now (slightly) favored to win the series entering Game 5.

Such a sad, sad state for Knicks fans. i thought the wheels fall off in the Celtics series, but it’s going to happen this series apparently. (Still want NY to win but i don’t see it…)


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Unfortunately the wheels fell off when OG got hurt, that made this series very difficult, I still wouldn’t be surprised if we win this series but if we advance, we’re going to get demolished by Boston