Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports Images
Throughout the entire regular season, the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers jostled for position in the Eastern Conference. It seemed like every week they would flip-flop between the second and third seeds. In the end the Knicks ended up the two and the Pacers ended up the three. Now these two teams will battle each other once again, this time in the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
Neither of the two teams looked exceptional in their first round series. The Knicks beat the Boston Celtics in six games, but worried people that they might blow the 3-0 series lead that they had. Indiana also won in six over the Atlanta Hawks, but the series was somewhat back and forth and relatively unimpressive on the part of the Pacers.
Both teams come into the series not playing their best basketball which is an intriguing matchup in itself as we look to see which team can persevere through this rough patch the best. Beyond just that aspect of this series, there are also a couple of interesting matchups to keep an eye on that will go down on the hardwood.
The first of these matchups is the battle in the post that will happen with the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler and Kenyon Martin and the Pacers’ Roy Hibbert, David West and Tyler Hansbrough. Though Chandler may be the most celebrated of those players, Indiana carries a distinct size and rebounding advantage into this series. In the regular season, the Knicks averaged just 40.6 boards per game as a team while the Pacers averaged 45.9 rebounds per game. The Pacers should be able to dominate the glass in this series.
The other matchup to watch in this series is between the two star forwards, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. Anthony led the league in scoring this season, but has hit a cold-streak over his last three games. In turn, George is one of the better and more versatile defenders in the league and could really bother Melo. George’s quickness could also prove problematic for Anthony’s questionable defense. It will be interesting to see if Anthony can get it going once again.
A key aspect of this series that has to be discussed is the matchup beyond-the-arc between these two teams. New York is a team that has lived and died by the three all season. They averaged the second most attempts per game in the regular season at 28.9 and have averaged the fourth most per game in the postseason at 24. However, the Pacers are one of the best teams in the league in terms of three-point defense. In the regular season, they lead the NBA in opposing three-point percentage at just 32.7 percent. That could cause the Knicks’ offense to stumble.
The Pacers have a distinct ability to control the pace and are an old school team that likes to beat teams with defense, physicality and size. All of those things have caused the Knicks problem over the course of this season, which even showed up in games four, five and six of their series with Boston. Indiana, if they can operate their offense effectively, should be able to shut down New York and get the victory in this series.
Cody Williams is a Senior NBA Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
