Everyone thinks Knicks are dead in the water is exactly when they perform at their best. I expect us to step up our defense, get huge contributions from Deuce and Precious in different ways, and win this game. Hinging on Brunson being a go of course.
Thank God we are off TNT and get Breen back.
If Thibs wasn’t the coach I might think they’d take a mulligan and rest Brunson in this game and see if OG progresses. But Thibs is the coach!
Get one in Indiana and finish them off at the Garden in 5. Give OG and everyone as much rest as possible.
Vaccaro really destroyed Carlisle in that article. Was never a big Vaccaro fan, but take the Post's cheekiness and aim it towards our opponent and its great.
But you gotta believe he goes with McConnell down the stretch today. Have we finally figured out what to do with him? It not just the scoring but the guy had 12 assists in like 27 mins last game. The penetration is throwing us off balance defensively.
There’s like a 90% chance Brunson is 50% available or something like that.
Need deuce to step up tonight, he's in a bit of a slump.
I thought Carlisle intent was to rile up the Indy crowd for blood in games 3 and 4 - he accomplished that.
On the other hand his whining SCREAMED SOFT and I think it’s going to backfire on Indy - hopefully we have enough bodies/energy to compete at highest level.
nycericanguy wrote:Need deuce to step up tonight, he's in a bit of a slump.
Boy do we need a solid game from Deuce - dude needs to just play contain D and keep his feet in the paint.
Deuce has to play better defensively to get going offensively. Simple as that. Its hard for him to be a factor when he is getting run around the court. He's also more of a factor as a shooter when he can play off ball.
Will be lame if Carlisle gets gift calls by complaining. Maybe the refs are angry and give him fewer calls. Who the fuck knows.
What we know is the Knicks are playing harder and smarter at the end of the games. Its not even debatable. The Pacers don't need to look that deeply to see that on the tape. Pacers don't have defensive conviction - if you can't shut down Brunson you also can't allow Josh Hart to go 90 feet coast to coast on so many possessions. You also can't let DiVo set up on the elbow and in the corners for 3's- thats where he can kill you. They aren't stopping Brunson and allowing the rest of the Villanova boys to get comfortable.
OG gave us a huge amount of offense last game, so we'll need someone else to step up and make those 3s and drives. Tonight will be a tough, tough, game. I expect to get a massive effort from the Pacers and some end game adjustments including a heavier diet of McConnell. IF all it takes is "More McConnell" to beat us, I will be dissapointed. I don't expect him to go 3 games in a row being that effective.
Overall in Game 1 you had a putrid Haliburton and a mediocre Siakam. In game 2 you had a better Haliburton (mainly from 3) and a putrid Siakam. I expect Hali+Siakam to bounceback hard tonight or at least attempt to be more aggressive.
I can see something where they shoot the lights out, go up big like 20 and we grind out another 2nd half win. If there's any crunchtime pressure they will wilt. Even at home with those stupid car sounds playing
I assume 'make up" whistles will lean to Indy tonight. Considering the manpower shortage, a win would be extraordinary.
KnickDanger wrote:I assume 'make up" whistles will lean to Indy tonight. Considering the manpower shortage, a win would be extraordinary.
I dunno that makeup whistles are really necessary (or weren't given already on Wednesday). Home court advantage might help out here, but I think they have just not been calling as many fouls and that favors teams like Minnesota, Clippers, NY, Philly, Miami and Cleveland. Maybe not enough for Clips and Miami, but I don't think the Nuggets benefit as much as Minnesota from the whistles this playoff. Cleveland might not get enough help to overcome Boston, but Beantown is hurting without KP.
I expect to take some lumps tonight as the team re-adjusts without OG's plus/minus. Giving us a swingers chance cause our boys are gamers. Need real magic from McBride and Achiuwa.
I probably start Brunson/McBride/DDV/Hart/iHart and just get after him and hope DDV and McBride are hot.
More whistles might not be what the team who led the league in fouls should be asking for.
VDesai wrote:More whistles might not be what the team who led the league in fouls should be asking for.
with their swiss cheese defense McBride is ready for a 30 game
I hate to be that guy but you guys are drinking some serious kool aid. Knicks fans are like - we got 6 players who don’t suck and are healthy and one leg Brunson. Yeah we got this. Knicks fans also - it takes 6-8 weeks minimum for a hammy but OG got this by game 5.
We have been playing out of our minds but reality is staring at us. Cautiously optimistic we get some good injury news.
Rookie wrote:I hate to be that guy but you guys are drinking some serious kool aid. Knicks fans are like - we got 6 players who don’t suck and are healthy and one leg Brunson. Yeah we got this. Knicks fans also - it takes 6-8 weeks minimum for a hammy but OG got this by game 5. We have been playing out of our minds but reality is staring at us. Cautiously optimistic we get some good injury news.
I think we all get it. We were a .500 team without OG. But we gotta win 2/5 against the Pacers. We can do this. They are already pretty shook. One game at a time. Spilit these two. Bring it home for game 5. I'll be in the building, I fucking got this!
The more I think about it we're probably just gonna play 6 guys, which is insane. I dunno how long this can last but these 6 guys keep answering the bell on minutes and they have been doing it for months. These guys are so locked in.
We are wearing orange colored lenses, but this team keeps defying the odds and expectations. Can you blame us? Everytime we think they are dead they come back and do something ridiculous.
KnickDanger wrote:I assume 'make up" whistles will lean to Indy tonight. Considering the manpower shortage, a win would be extraordinary.
I wouldn't assume so. I think the refs could easily go the opposite direction to make it feel like they're being very objective, especially with completely different ref crews.
For what it's worth, the NBA only releases L2M reports if the teams get as close as 3 points apart at any point in the last 2 minutes. the Pacers got within 6pts with 1:23 left.
And btw, Carlisle was just fined $35k for his comments post-game 2.
https://official.nba.com/2023-24-nba-officiating-last-two-minute-reports/
So will it be the Achiuwa at the 4 lineup with poor spacing, but more beef/rebounding?
Or will it be that small lineup we saw where Deuce Starts at the 2 and Divo and Hart are forwards. That small lineup helped us against the Western teams. The Precious/iHart lineup was effective in that February win over the Pacers.
In Thibs we trust
