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After a close six-game series, the Knicks edged out the Philadelphia 76ers to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year. Their rival in the quest for the Conference Finals is the Indiana Pacers, fresh from a six-win series over the starless Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Unlike Philadelphia, this will be more of a clash of styles, as New York prefers to play at a slower pace, while Indiana wants to compete in athletics. The good news for the Knicks is that they are facing fewer stars, as they will be facing two All-Stars instead of one and a reigning MVP.
The two teams met twice after their midseason trades, a 1-1 split at Madison Square Garden that did not include OG Anunobi either michel robinson. Without relying heavily on their regular season games, projecting this series won’t be easy, but let’s dive in.
Protecting Jalen Brunson
As with any Knicks matchup, stopping or slowing Brunson will be the top priority for opponents. As with Philadelphia, expect Indy, loaded with big guards and wings, to throw their biggest defenders at you.
Aaron Nesmith At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds with a seven-foot wingspan he will likely get open for Brunson. Indy’s 6-foot-5 backcourt Tyrese Haliburton and Andres Nembhard They will also have their opportunities, as will the Knick Killer and the general annoyance on the court. T.J. McConnell.
Brunson hasn’t had much trouble scoring against these guys in the regular season. He scored 28 points on 22 shots in the season-worst first game, followed by efficient performances of 40 and 39 points.
Guarded by Nesmith, Brunson scored 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting in less than 10 minutes, however, he struggled from the field against Haliburton and Nembhard, who also have size advantages but can better match Brunson’s speed.
Individual matchups won’t matter as much as team schemes. Indiana will probably try to shade jose hart send Brunson an extra defender, like Philadelphia did, and New York will need Hart to make plays and throws like he did last series.
In theory, the Pacers are more interchangeable against Brunson and would live with him constantly isolating against Pascal Siakam either Myles Turner. Even if that works, Brunson will fall back on his basketball goal and get the matchup he prefers, and both teams will have to adjust from there.
Styles make fights
The identities of these two teams are pretty entrenched at this point, and since they are both on opposite ends of the basketball spectrum, whoever plays will likely come out victorious.
New York is a slow, crush-you-and-with-metal-bats team that defends well and makes up for its offensive limitations by winning the possession game through offensive rebounds and low turnovers. Indiana is constantly pushing the pace and wants to space you out and kill you on offense, with little resistance on the other end.
Both have built-in advantages. The Pacers finished the regular season ranked 24th in defensive rating, 26th in defensive rebounding percentage and 19th in opponent turnover rate, all suggesting that if the Knicks’ defense holds up they should find enough offense to win easily. .
On the other hand, New York misses a lot of shots, which will create a lot of transition opportunities for Indiana. The Knicks’ defense may also struggle against five-out teams like the Pacers, who feature a starting frontcourt that shoots 36.4 percent from three.
This series may very well come down to these simple things that both teams have done all season, but they need to solidify in this round. Can the Knicks keep their turnovers down and abuse the Pacers on the boards, or will Indiana punish them for every missed shot and overwhelm them with their youth and athleticism?
Reduce the pace
Indiana finished with the second-best offense of the season and has maintained that pace in the postseason, albeit against a shaky Bucks defense. The Knicks will have more weapons to throw at them, but there are still many unknowns.
For one thing, how do the Knicks compare? Anunoby is your swiss army knife that protected everyone from Maxey Tyrese to Joel Embiid in the latest series, and we’ll probably see it deployed in a similar way this time around.
His natural place is with Siakam, who fired Milwaukee for 36 and 37 points in Games 1 and 2. He’s had plenty of time to guard him in Toronto Raptors practice, but none yet in the course of NBA action, so this will be an interesting face to face to watch.
That leaves Isaiah Hartenstein guarding Turner, who will be positioned beyond the three-point arc to take New York’s rim protection out of the paint. The Knicks will probably live with this until it burns them out, at which point they’ll have some options.
They can try to hide Hartenstein in Nesmith or another non-shooting perimeter threat, causing Turner to have to post Hart to gain an advantage. They can also put Hartenstein on Siakam and Anunoby on Turner, so the rim is protected and OG can help and recover easily with his speed.
It will likely be a defense by committee for Haliburton, whose offensive danger comes largely from his passing ability. We could see Anunoby on him if he lets go too much, perhaps in combination with a cross on Siakam to close out that favorite play.
Just like in the first round, don’t expect the Knicks to be consistent in their approach. Tom Thibodeau He bothered Philadelphia’s stars in the series’ biggest moments with defensive adjustments and he’ll try to do the same here.
One thing working in the Knicks’ favor is Indy’s lack of shooting. Only Nembhard and Turner had good starts from deep last round, so if they can corral the paint and force the ball into the hands of poor shooters, they might have an advantage there.
Prediction
No postseason foe should be overlooked or written off, but the Knicks have the makings of going to war with a legitimate contender and an MVP-caliber player. The Pacers should pale in comparison.
Knicks at 5.