Post#177 » by Phish Tank » Sat May 4, 2024 5:07 pm
Want to say Knicks in 6, but there are a bunch of variables worth considering here that'll depend on whether the playoffs end for New York or whether the series ends early for the Pacers.
The Pacers/Bucks series was a bit lopsided for various chunks so you saw the Pacers bring out the garbage time guys a lot. I'm curious to see what the real rotation will be like. If they go 9, that may not be a smart thing. They'll probably stick to 8. I think the Knicks have to expand to 8, but the Pacers should be warned that tiring the Knicks won't happen here. They'll simply have to execute.
For the Knicks, the biggest key here is that OG will have the much easier defensive assignment. He'll be tasked to guard Siakam. Unlike Embiid, Siakam is not a foul hunter. If Siakam's attempting 10 FTs, the Knicks aren't playing disciplined. Also worth noting Siakam spent a majority of the series with Bobby Portis on him. When Portis wasn't, you got bouts of Middleton & Brook Lopez. That won't be the case against NY. Even the Knicks' worst defenders are better than the Bucks in this circumstance. Just gotta stay disciplined
Where we need to be careful is with defending Myles. Myles made a LOT of threes against the Bucks. If we need to, we can slot OG against Myles and put our big against Siakam. We can't allow Myles to hit a lot of 3s. We'll need to be careful with going in a deep drop, but we have some experience here with Embiid.
Nesmith & Nembhard are interesting. They'll hustle for rebounds, so Hart and co. will have to do the same. I think Hart will be fine defending Nesmith and I think the Knicks will slot Brunson on Nembhard.
We'll see which Tyrese we'll get. Unlike Maxey, Tyrese attempted MOST of his shots from the perimeter and wasn't that great at it. I think we'll see DDV on Tyrese. We'll need to curb the playmaking and making sure Tyrese stays out of the paint. I think our defense is more prepared here.
The Pacers do have the "better" bench but am curious to see how they deploy it vs us. I do worry a bit about Mitch in this series due to Myles/Obi's penchant to hit shots from the perimeter.
The Knicks' key is to outrebound Indy, expose their defense, and keep them out of transition. It'll be hard, but I think we win in no more than 6. Gotta win both games at home though.