Mark D. Smith-USA Today Sports
The New York Knicks are expected to have Pablo Prigioni back in the lineup on Tuesday night as they prepare to play host to the Boston Celtics in Game 2.
Albeit Prigioni is anything but a game-changer, he does give the Knicks some added depth on the perimeter and that’s exactly what the team might need as they prepare to slow down an expected, up-tempo push from the Celtics in Game 2. Boston will be looking to spread out the Knicks and create mismatches on the perimeter, so having Prigioni at their disposal will be key for New York.
Prigioni sprained his right ankle in the team’s regular season finale and missed Game 1 on Saturday because of it. The Knicks used a nice second half advantage to claim the series’ opening game, but New York obviously needs to take care of business on Tuesday night, as well. Knicks star Carmelo Anthony told the NY Post on Tuesday morning that Game 2 was a “must win” situation. Well isn’t that obvious? New York is the two seed and the home team in this series and the last thing that they want to give the Celtics is momentum with their series switching back to Boston later in the week.
Prigioni’s return will help the Knicks on the defensive end of the floor, but Celtics head coach Doc Rivers shouldn’t be particularly worried about his return to the lineup. Prigioni only averaged 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game during the regular season, so he’s not exactly a mind-blowing offensive threat. Of course, Boston will be aware of him, but be sure that the Celtics will roll the dice with their guard rotations despite his return to the Knicks’ lineup.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00pm (EST).
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
