I’m still in shock by what I witnessed on Wednesday in MSG. The NBA truly is faaaaaantastic.
Both teams shot 51% from the field. New York was 40.5% from downtown, but had eight more turnovers and allowed eight more fast break points. They did win the battle of the boards by seven and scored 12 more points in the paint.
Those in NYC are likely still shell-shocked, but Game 1 was just that, only one game. Friday is a new day and a chance for redemption by the Knicks.
New York is a veteran-laden team, so I don’t expect them to be shellshocked, especially with a raucous MSG crowd providing energy galore. During this playoff run, the Knicks have bounced back well after every loss.
But, but, but….
Indiana has won the first two games in both series so far. And towards the end of that game on Wednesday, they definitely found some comfortable things on offense.
If you don’t have a microwave like myself and hate popping kernels on the skillet, I recommend heading on over to your local movie theater. Mine sells gigantic to-go popcorn bags. I may have to get not one, not two, not three, but four of them for Friday night.
DraftKings Sportsbook has NYK -5.5 over IND at home with the total at 226.5.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $500K Shootaround [$100K to 1st] (IND at NYK)
Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks
Captain’s Picks
Karl-Anthony Towns ($14,700 CP): The knock on Towns is that he often doesn’t show enough dawg. Well, he is a KAT after all, but fans get tired of the meows and yearn for more barking. In Game 1, he was uber-aggressive, attacking closeouts strong, cleaning the glass and launching from downtown with little hesitation. When he’s in that frame of mind, Towns is one of the best and most unique big men in the game because he can literally do it all. His line in Game 1 was 35 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, a block, a steal and four treys while shooting 11-of-17 from the field, 4-of-8 from downtown and 9-of-11 from the line. Playing alongside Jalen Brunson opens up so many good opportunities for him, both from beyond the arc and down low on the block against mismatches. I’m expecting a big game from both he and Brunson on Friday. Towns is a little cheaper and I like that he contributes across the board. Just pray for the dawg, and not the KAT.
UTIL Plays
Miles McBride ($2,600): McBride is often the microwave scorer off the bench, but his defense is underrated. He had a massive block on a dunk attempt on Wednesday. Those types of plays endear him to Thibs and make the playing time floor stable. While he doesn’t contribute much in the periphery categories, he usually gets up five to eight shots a game. He played 25 minutes on Wednesday and received 32 and 29 in the final two games of the Boston series. Granted, those games were blowout, so the expectation should be around 20 minutes, which should be fine considering the price.
Mitchell Robinson ($4,000): Robinson is a low-usage player who can’t shoot free throws. But he plays excellent defense and is a menace on the glass. Robinson played 21 minutes off the bench on Wednesday and grabbed eight rebounds, four on the offensive end. He likely won’t play much more than 20 minutes, but he’s definitely going to play due to his defense and rebounding. Both McBride and Robinson are cheap plays that should provide double-digit FPTS but, most importantly, allow higher-priced players to be rostered.
Jalen Brunson ($10,600): You didn’t think I’d forget about the new King of New York, did you? Brunson is the alpha of the Knicks offense. In the past, he feasted on Andrew Nembhard. Rick Carlisle made the adjustment and put Aaron Nesmith on him for Game 1. Brunson was still able to bully the bigger and stronger Nesmith in the paint for buckets. You gotta like all the Knicks players on Friday, at home and not wanting to go down 0-2 in the series. Oh, they will all likely play over 40 minutes as well.
Fades
Aaron Nesmith ($6,600): Nesmith has had an excellent playoffs from a FPTS perspective. He’s gone over 30 FPTS five times with three of those over 40 FPTS. He’s scored fewer than 20 FPTS twice and finished in the 20 FPTS range four times. The price is decent, but the ownership will likely be higher than deemed worthy. I just see too many things that could derail his performance. He likely won’t shoot 8-of-9 from downtown again and there’s also the possibility of getting into foul trouble having to guard Brunson for most of the game.
THE OUTCOME
I think the Knicks show resolve and play very well, but I like the Pacers to replicate what they’ve done in every series so far, and that is to win the first two games. Their offense is so tough to play against because there are few set plays. It’s a lot of improvisation and I think they found plenty of things at the end of Game 1. In addition, they are one of the best teams at adjusting at both ends of the floor.
Final Score: Pacers 121, Knicks 116
