NBA Playoff Schedule 2013: Knicks vs. Pacers Game 6 Viewing Info and Preview
Only one conference semifinal series remains as the New York Knicks took care of business at home to force their series with the Indiana Pacers to Game 6. The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies have already moved on.
The Knicks and Pacers have both endured extended dry spells throughout the series. While that’s certainly a worrisome sign ahead of a matchup with the defending champion Heat, both teams are just worrying about getting that far.
Indiana gets another chance to close out the series on Saturday, this time on its home floor, while New York wants to send the series back to Madison Square Garden. Let’s take a look at all the viewing information for Game 6, followed by a preview and prediction.
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
When: Saturday, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com
Playoff Schedule: Full Listing (via Sports Media Watch)
Preview
Turnovers were once again a major issue for the Pacers in Game 5. They turned it over 19 times as compared to just 10 for the Knicks. Combine that with the fact they shot 36 percent from the field and it’s easy to see why they scored just 75 points.
It would be easy to point to the absence of point guard George Hill, who missed the contest and is listed as doubtful for Game 6 by USA Today. But Hill is averaging more than two turnovers per game and his replacement, D.J. Augustin, only had two in 39 minutes.
The issue is more of a team-wide problem. The Pacers must place a much greater emphasis on protecting the ball. Not only in order to close out the Knicks, but also to have any chance of surviving a potential matchup with Miami’s terrific defense.
Roy Hibbert’s continued emergence on the interior along with the revitalized play of David West gives the Pacers a major post advantage. They must set the tone in Game 6 by getting a lot of easy buckets around the rim.
It will force New York’s defense to collapse, leaving more open looks for Paul George and Lance Stephenson. Their low shooting percentages in Game 5 were due in part to a lot of contested looks. A more established post game would open things up.
For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony needs to become more efficient. While he’s averaging 26 points per game in the series, he’s needed 24 shots per game to do it. That type of volume scoring isn’t enough for a team to have sustained playoff success.
Anthony has always been a shoot-first player. It’s gone to another level in the playoffs, though, mostly because he’s getting so little help from his teammates. J.R. Smith has been ice cold and none of the other Knicks have stepped up to fill the scoring void.
It’s tough to imagine them overcoming those offensive struggles to beat the Pacers two more times. Indiana has too much talent and should be able to use the boost of returning home to eliminate the Knicks, setting up a meeting with the Heat.
Prediction
Pacers 93, Knicks 90
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Playoff Putbacks: Can the Knicks come back?
Everything you need to know from Thursday’s playoff action.
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Winners and Losers from Thursday’s Wild NBA Playoff Action
Thursday’s NBA playoff action saw Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks stave off elimination with an ugly 85-75 win over the Indiana Pacers. It also saw the San Antonio Spurs eliminate the Golden State Warriors by a final score of 94-82 at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Of course, if you scanned a box score, you’d know that.
What you might not easily surmise is the way Indiana’s bench and ball security allowed the Knicks to prolong their playoff lives. And let’s not forget the Miami Heat, who probably spent Thursday night smiling contentedly to themselves, secure in the knowledge that they could wipe the floor with either of the bumbling Eastern Conference foes they could potentially meet in the next round.
Also lurking below the surface of the evening’s results was the battle-tested truism that experience counts for an awful lot in the postseason. Just ask the Spurs, whose veterans dug deep to find a way to win.
As for the Warriors, well, they’ll go home having learned a hard lesson about experimenting with quirky lineups when the stakes are highest. Hint: It’s not a good idea.
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What We Learned About OKC Thunder from Their 2nd-Round Playoff Series
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 4-1, and will not advance to the Western Conference Finals this season. Projected to compete with the Miami Heat for the NBA Championship at the beginning of the season, OKC traded superstar sixth man James Harden to the Houston Rockets and had to play in a much more difficult conference in order to try to take the crown from King James and Co.
The Thunder lost to another team that traded away its superstar—Rudy Gay was dealt to the Toronto Raptors in the middle of the season—but they also had to play without a cornerstone player, Russell Westbrook, who got injured in Game 2 against the Rockets.
Fortunately for basketball fans in Oklahoma City, the Thunder are one of the youngest teams in the league and will have other chances, but this one still hurts…
Fans are going to be left wondering: What if we had Harden?
Harden began the year in “Eff You” mode, dropping 37 and 45 points, respectively, in his first two games for the Rockets. Oklahoma City got to see him up close in its first-round series, when it dispatched Houston in six games.
Mr. Harden had a few tricks up his sleeve beard, dropping 30 points in three of the six games and scoring at least 20 points in five of the games. He only tallied 15 in Game 4 but got the last laugh with a 105-103 win.
The team obviously did not expect Westbrook, who never misses a game, to get injured when it shipped Harden to Texas, but he is more talented than what it has now. Kevin Martin, 29, will never be the impact player Harden is, and it’s uncertain how good Reggie Jackson, 22, will end up being.
It’s nothing to lose sleep over; what’s done is done, but this is going to haunt Thunder fans after the early exit.
How do you win after a big trade? Just ask Memphis.
“Yeah I’m still up on my grizzly, Mike Conley. That was just a preview, cause they got nothing on we.”—”Handclaps & Guitars,” Chiddy Bang.
The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the best-run organizations and a model franchise for small-market teams. They knew that Gay was due for a windfall, and there was no way that a professional basketball team in Memphis was able to afford to blow through the luxury tax to keep its superstar player.
When the Grizzlies dealt Gay to Toronto, they knew that somebody had to step up to replace his production.
Marc Gasol may be establishing himself as the Alpha Gasol in the NBA (sorry Pau!) and Zach Randolph has been playing motivated (like he’s being chased by a cat), but it is Mike Conley who has really stepped up for the Grizz.
Zach Lowe broke it down in his recent Grantland profile of the Memphis point guard:
The biggest difference between Conley and Gay — and Gasol and Gay — is that Conley’s shot-hunting grows organically from within Memphis’s offense. Gay’s shot-hunting largely existed outside of that offense, or ground it to a halt. Most of Conley’s scoring chances come via the pick-and-roll, which means that if a Conley scoring pursuit goes nowhere, there is a natural pass available — one that keeps all the screening and cutting gears turning.
The Grizzlies are benefiting from smart management: They were able to let their star go because another one would thrive in their offense.
Oklahoma City needs to do the same thing with Durant.
OKC must take advantage of Durant’s efficiency.
Durant looks at so many shot charts, you’d think he was playing Battleship. He is so focused on efficiency; John Hollinger should describe his motor as “hybrid.” Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated reports that he has hired his own analytics expert and has found his “hot spots” on the court:
[Justin] Zormelo sits in section 104 of Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena, with an iPad that tells him in real time what percentage Durant is shooting from the left corner and how many points per possession he is generating on post-ups. After games, he takes the iPad to Durant’s house or hotel room and they watch clips of every play.
He will find spaces where he struggles to score and work on the shot in practice. If he finds that he is unable to score from a certain place, he will simply avoid taking that shot. He has even gone so far as eschewing buzzer-beaters during the regular season.
Durant scored at least 25 points in every game during the postseason, but he underperformed because he was forced to take shots he was uncomfortable taking in an effort to replace the production lost when Westbrook got injured.
With a healthy Westbrook, this offense should once again cater to Durant’s strength and allow him to adhere his own green movement.
Conclusion
Durant needs Westbrook. That’s the bottom line.
The former isn’t going anywhere, and the latter is known as one of the most reliable players in the league. The two should be able to challenge LeBron and the Heat in the future; it’s just not going to happen this year.
For the time being, fans need to forget about Harden. The team should take a couple of notes on Memphis, a fellow small-market team that appears to have things figured out.
Tom Schreier covers the Northwest Division for Bleacher Report and writes for TheFanManifesto.com. Visit his Kinja blog to see his previous work.
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Playoff Putbacks: Don’t blame Kevin Durant for Thunder woes
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NBA Playoff Predictions 2013: Why the Knicks Still Have a Fighting Chance
The New York Knicks packed their bags and headed to Indianapolis after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals feeling confident and rejuvenated.
They had just tied the series at 1-1 after winning in blowout fashion at The Garden, and things were looking up as they went to Indiana for two straight games.
After getting roughed up in Games 3 and 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the confidence and swagger that the Knicks possessed in Game 2 seems just about nonexistent.
The Knicks shot just 35 percent from the field in both Games 3 and 4, and below 30 percent from three-point range. It is no secret to any Knicks fan, or any basketball fan for that matter, that the Knicks do not succeed if they are not shooting the ball well.
They live and die by the three-point ball, and 27 percent and 28 percent as a team just won’t cut it against a defensively efficient Indiana squad.
Mike Woodson’s team has had to deal with plenty of distractions outside of the gym, mainly the harsh New York media who’s job it is to scrutinize every move the team makes.
The Knicks now find themselves with their backs against the wall, facing elimination as they head home for Game 5 on Thursday.
Despite their horrific performances in back-to-back games in Indiana, there is still hope for the New York Knicks, although many people are counting them out.
The Knicks will look to accomplish what the Boston Celtics were able to do to them in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, and that is to gain momentum.
The series is headed back to Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks went 31-10 this season.
If they can find a way to break out of their abominable shooting slump and defeat the Indiana Pacers on their home floor, it is a whole new series.
The Knicks saw Carmelo Anthony, Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith combine for 36 points in Game 3, and shoot a combined 37 percent from the field in Game 4.
These are some of the worst numbers that these three have put up all season, and if even just one of them can find a way to break out of his slump, the Knicks have a fighting chance.
Yes, they would still need to win two games in a row, one of them being on the road in Indiana where they haven’t won a playoff game since 1999.
But a win in Game 5 can change the entire momentum of a series, and the Knicks witnessed that first hand against the Celtics.
The Celtics were unsuccessful in their comeback attempt against the Knicks, but after winning two straight games, things began to change.
The players, the fans and the media all began to change their outlook on the series, and if the Knicks can pull off a win in Indiana in Game 6, they become the favorites again as they head home for Game 7.
Of course there are a lot of things that need to go in the Knicks favor for them to win this series, and it may seem very unlikely after their performance in the past two games, but one great game can change a series and everybody knows the Knicks are capable of winning in blowout fashion.
The New York Knicks are down 3-1 and appear as if they are out for the count, but don’t be surprised if you see them roaring back to make this a series to remember.
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Winners and Losers from Tuesday Night’s NBA Playoff Action
The Indiana Pacers never trailed on Tuesday night and now find themselves within a stone’s throw of their first Eastern Conference Finals berth in nine years, while the San Antonio Spurs relied on their veteran experience to regain control over their series.
On a night when Roy Hibbert battled foul trouble and an out-of-rhythm shooting touch, Indiana got double-digit efforts from five other players in its 93-82 Game 4 win over the New York Knicks. The Pacers now have five double-digit wins to show for their five postseason games at home and, more importantly, a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Spurs surged out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter, gave half of it away in the second, then flirted with perfection over the final 24 minutes of their 109-91 win over the Golden State Warriors. Neither team has been able to post back-to-back victories in the series, but San Antonio now has two chances to find one victory and the return trip to the Western Conference Finals it would carry with it.
As both of these series inch closer to their conclusions, several Tuesday night winners put their teams in prime position, while a number of losers now sit a loss away from wondering where it all went wrong.
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Winners and Losers from Monday Night’s NBA Playoff Action
The Miami Heat moved one step closer to their third straight Eastern Conference finals appearance on Monday night, while the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from a double-digit deficit to grab control of their series.
A 103-97 overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder left the Grizzlies as the biggest winner of the night. Memphis spotted the OKC a 17-point lead in the first half, then stormed back to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Heat may well have vacated the Windy City for the final time with their commanding 88-65 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 4. The undermanned Bulls appeared to hit a brick wall on the offensive end (or was that just Miami’s relentless defense?), while the Heat shook off another shaky night from Dwyane Wade to ease into a comfortable win.
LeBron James looked more like a one-man show than one-third of the mighty Big Three, but the main member of their three-headed monster provided a badly-needed scoring punch to help secure the win. For Memphis it was a matter of rinsing and repeating, relying on a time-tested method to secure a toughly contested win.
Just one win separates the Heat and the Grizzlies from a conference finals berth, while the Bulls and Thunder face the unenviable scenario of win-or-go-home.
So who’s to blame for the steep climb that lies ahead for Chicago and Oklahoma City? And who’s to thank for the favorable position for Miami and Memphis?
Read on to find out the biggest winners and losers from Monday night’s NBA playoff action.
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Playoff Putbacks: Will Dwyane Wade keep the Heat from repeating?
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