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Per @nyknicks on Instagram
It took six hard-fought games, but the Knicks clinched a first round series win against the Philadelphia 76ers this past Thursday night. Hopefully, this will not be the norm for Knicks fans moving forward, as I felt that series took 10 years off of my life. All stressors aside, that was not only one of the best first round matchups I have ever seen, but one of the better playoff series in recent years. In the end, the Knicks move on and will face the Indiana Pacers in round two of the playoffs starting on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Round 1 tested this team
Throw two non-basketball fans into the series between the Knicks and 76ers, and they'd come out telling you that was a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. For more seasoned basketball fans, the seeding says otherwise. This felt nothing like a 2 vs. 7 series, it felt like an Eastern Conference Finals matchup between two heavyweights that refused to go down in the 15th round. The 76ers tested this Knicks squad and made their lives a living hell through six games.
The Knicks came out hot, winning the first two games at home all while Jalen Brunson struggled to get into rhythm. Things felt great heading into Philly, with the Knicks taking one of two there and eventually heading back to New York with a 3-1 series lead. Things got a little bit dicey in game 5 - the Knicks blowing a six point lead with 28 seconds left - and the Sixers ended up stealing one in OT. This all while Tyrese Maxey put on a masterclass and had a game high 46 points and hit seven threes.
That one really felt like the tip of the iceberg that would eventually sink the ship, but this Knicks team didn't let that deter them from going out there and taking game 6 in Philadelphia. They came out in game 6, fought tooth and nail, fell behind by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, and won in dramatic fashion by a score of 118-115. Jalen Brunson once again scored 40+ points, marking the third straight game in which he did so in the series. He joined a very notable group of NBA legends after hitting that milestone.
All five starters averaged over 25 minutes per game in the series. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby all averaged over 40 minutes per game. The bench is stretched super thin at the moment with just Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson playing meaningful minutes. The Knicks will run with a seven man rotation the rest of the way with the starters being relied on heavily to take on the load of game minutes.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference
The same will come once the Conference Semis tip off on Monday night. Tom Thibodeau will lean on his starters to play big minutes and produce at a high level like they did against the 76ers. Let's hope tired legs don't impact their performance here, although it doesn't seem like that should be a worry from what we have seen so far. My guy Josh Hart doesn't even look like he's breaking a sweat out there when he's snatching offensive rebounds and running in transition.
What to watch for against Indiana
Tyrese Haliburton didn't have a great series against the Bucks, but don't doubt this guy and his high-level skillset. He was chosen to represent USA basketball for a reason at this summer's Olympic Games and is a driving force behind the Pacers' success this season. He and Jalen Brunson will duke it out night after night, a fun sight for any basketball fan to watch.
Indiana is a fast team, scoring at one of the highest rates per possession during the regular season. For the Knicks to come out and take care of them, they will need to slow them down and force them to settle into their halfcourt offense more often than not. With the energy in which the Knicks play on defense and their rebounding capabilities, they should be able to slow Indiana down from the jump.
Obi Toppin will be back in the Garden for his first playoff appearance with another team that is not the Knicks. He's coming off the bench for the Pacers, averaging 12.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG on 19.3 MPG in the playoffs. Those are the best playoff numbers of his career so far and it looks like he's carved out a niche for himself in Indiana.
OG Anunoby should once again be an X-factor the Knicks will rely on to create havoc on defense. In the series against the 76ers he averaged 1.3 BLK, 1.0 STL, and 5.8 DREB per game. An underrated, but promising stat, is that he averaged 15 PPG in the series as well. His defense when taking the Joel Embiid assignment in round one should carry over into his matchup with Pascal Siakam of Indiana. Siakam thrives in the paint, so a similar game plan as to what the Knicks unleashed against Joel Embiid should be in the cards. Keep him out of the paint/low post, and the Knicks will be able to throw him off his rhythm.
Final thoughts
Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is hard fought defense and clean rebounding, there is a way. The Knicks do the hard things to claw out victories, and although the 76ers series was a grind, Indiana will not make their lives any easier. The Knicks will need to come out early and punch them in the mouth with a concoction of Jalen Brunson offensive wizardry and a defensive prowess that ranked them sixth in the regular season with a defensive rating of 112.4.
The main focus needs to be slowing down the pace of the Pacers offense. This Pacers team doesn't turn the ball over and rebounds at a high clip on both ends of the court (6th in the playoffs among 16 teams). The Knicks will need to box out hard and grind down this team. The Pacers will attempt a ton of threes too, so clean close outs and forcing them into awkward shots is a must.
I think the Knicks matchup well with the Pacers. Although I do believe it will be another hard fought series, the Knicks should be able to handle the Pacers in five and punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.