2025 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: #3 New York Knicks vs #4 Indiana Pacers (IND leads 2-0)

[cgf]

But dude is comparing 3 guys who did play (Tatum 4gms avg. 41mins) to Randle who didn't play, Robinson who played 12mins and OG who played 3gms avg 25mins. against Indy last postseason.

I think his point was more that injuries happen, so we shouldn't dismiss Indy's win last season...but I wasn't. I was just pointing out that last season's series isn't likely to be too predictive of this series unless you assume we'll get similarly banged up.

I knew what you were implying. The injury situations / player availability between NY last postseason to Boston this postseason isn't even comparable.

That's unimportant to my point.

[FlatearthZorro]

Which 3 players didn’t play?

KP, Tatum, and Jrue I guess? Jaylen was reportedly injured but with the way he looked in those last two games, he didn't seem any more banged up than Brunson or Towns, but Jrue was really struggling to keep up with Brunson. Which could just be age, dude is 50, or it could be the hammy that bothered him against Orlando.

Granted the series was already lost when Tatum went down, so KP & Jrue are really the only injuries that affected that series. But boston fans have to cling to something to avoid admitting how badly they under-rated what the Knicks were capable of.

But dude is comparing 3 guys who did play (Tatum 4gms avg. 41mins) to Randle who didn't play, Robinson who played 12mins and OG who played 3gms avg 25mins. against Indy last postseason.

Holiday missed ~month with finger injury, I dunno if he will or has had a surgery. His finger was injured throughout the season and taped to another.
Brown had partially torn meniscus throughout the last 3 months of the season and into the playoffs.
KP had the respiratory issues which rendered him completely useless.

[Hoop Hunter]

How is that not an obvious foul on Nesmith? Brunson wouldn’t need to knock nesmith’s arm away of Nesmith wasn’t trying to reach in and get in Brunson’s way.

Not the way I see it. He didn't knock the arm away, he pulled it to his face.

It ends up hitting his face because Nesmith was reaching so much and he's stronger than Jalen, but Brunson's not grabbing it, he's trying to knock it up so he can duck under it & get around Nesmith.

I guess we'll just have to disagree.

[The4thHorseman]

KP, Tatum, and Jrue I guess? Jaylen was reportedly injured but with the way he looked in those last two games, he didn't seem any more banged up than Brunson or Towns, but Jrue was really struggling to keep up with Brunson. Which could just be age, dude is 50, or it could be the hammy that bothered him against Orlando.

Granted the series was already lost when Tatum went down, so KP & Jrue are really the only injuries that affected that series. But boston fans have to cling to something to avoid admitting how badly they under-rated what the Knicks were capable of.

But dude is comparing 3 guys who did play (Tatum 4gms avg. 41mins) to Randle who didn't play, Robinson who played 12mins and OG who played 3gms avg 25mins. against Indy last postseason.

Holiday missed ~month with finger injury, I dunno if he will or has had a surgery. His finger was injured throughout the season and taped to another.
Brown had partially torn meniscus throughout the last 3 months of the season and into the playoffs.
KP had the respiratory issues which rendered him completely useless.

They were available and played compared to Julius Randle and Mitch who weren't available and didn't play. That's a big difference between the two

[Froob]

Was that Haliburton shot the luckiest bounce in basketball history? Be that or the Kawhi one. I think Hali one was crazier given the height

[Moose]

I give you the props for showing up , you join CapnO and CGF in hall of fame

Unlike the other Rhodeys of the world who’s working hard to get me banned

Edit , if I’m not here always remember what I told you, PACERS IN 5

Guy, eventually it's likely the knicks will lose rather than win.

This isn't really all that impressive.

Troll jobs are supposed to be clever.

Once the Celtics series ended, you should have just said well done and moved on.

If the knicks get by the pacers, they are gonna likely lose to the thunder. You gonna gloat then?

It's so lame lol.

Im sticking with Pacers , OKC it’s not necessary

Pacers will beat OKC as well

Lol, I like that. Dedicated.

[shi-woo]

But dude is comparing 3 guys who did play (Tatum 4gms avg. 41mins) to Randle who didn't play, Robinson who played 12mins and OG who played 3gms avg 25mins. against Indy last postseason.

Holiday missed ~month with finger injury, I dunno if he will or has had a surgery. His finger was injured throughout the season and taped to another.
Brown had partially torn meniscus throughout the last 3 months of the season and into the playoffs.
KP had the respiratory issues which rendered him completely useless.

They were available and played compared to Julius Randle and Mitch who weren't available and didn't play. That's a big difference between the two

The majority of Celtics fans wish KP DIDN'T play, it's what threw off our entire team in games 1 and 2...

[bisme37]

Does that even matter at this point. Injuries are part of sports... We had 3 of our top 5 in the series hurt against New York...

Which 3 players didn’t play?

KP, Tatum, and Jrue I guess? Jaylen was reportedly injured but with the way he looked in those last two games, he didn't seem any more banged up than Brunson or Towns, but Jrue was really struggling to keep up with Brunson. Which could just be age, dude is 50, or it could be the hammy that bothered him against Orlando.

Granted the series was already lost when Tatum went down, so KP & Jrue are really the only injuries that affected that series. But boston fans have to cling to something to avoid admitting how badly they under-rated what the Knicks were capable of.

Tatum with the wrist and then Achilles. That new celebration he was doing was basically, "my wrist is still jacked and I made a shot!" And then he went out for the season of course.

Jaylen was playing on a partially torn meniscus.

Jrue with a hamstring strain and finger whatever-it-was.

Sam Hauser ankle and back.

KP couldn't breathe.

I didn't wake up today planning to whine about it haha, but saw the conversation and yeah we were hella banged up in the end. And the Knicks played amazingly of course. Everyone tried to diminish the Celtics title last year by saying we played injured teams and it was annoying, so I'm promise I'm not trying to be annoying lol. Thems the breaks.

[FlatearthZorro]

But dude is comparing 3 guys who did play (Tatum 4gms avg. 41mins) to Randle who didn't play, Robinson who played 12mins and OG who played 3gms avg 25mins. against Indy last postseason.

Holiday missed ~month with finger injury, I dunno if he will or has had a surgery. His finger was injured throughout the season and taped to another.
Brown had partially torn meniscus throughout the last 3 months of the season and into the playoffs.
KP had the respiratory issues which rendered him completely useless.

They were available and played compared to Julius Randle and Mitch who weren't available and didn't play. That's a big difference between the two

These are excuses, man. They were very far from what they usually are capable of.. It is sports again, very much part of any sports.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Was that Haliburton shot the luckiest bounce in basketball history? Be that or the Kawhi one. I think Hali one was crazier given the height

Well it depends how you look at it …

From historical standpoint Kawhi one was more important for now because they won whole thing that year and the shot was a part of the actual Championship

but ….

If this series goes 6 or 7 games with Pacers taking the series and winning the championship later, Haliburton shot will take the cake as the clear #1 for me

Now if You talking BIG BALLS shot Haliburton shot takes the cake , Pacers was down 2 he was 10 feet from the basket he had Bridges all over him , he could try to flop for a foul , pass the ball , even shoot contested midrange , NOPE he pedal back behind three point line and takes the shot , THAT WAS BALLS OF STEEL SHOT

[LFGK]

So the question is whether hitting 6 straight threes in a high pressure environment is a hot hand or just statistical variance? Here's my detailed analysis:

Spoiler:

Statistical chance to beat 0-970 record is way way slimmer than hitting 6 threes in a row

And that's still higher odds than me giving a ****.

and also higher then the nets being relevant in the sport of basketball

[___Rand___]

I want to commend Pacers for having the mental resilience to come back from being down big in several playoff games to win. I had wondered how this young Pacers' team would respond this season after watching them fold in the dying minutes of all four games against Celtics in last year's playoffs despite having leads late games. Let's not kid ourselves. It was an obvious choke, each and every time. What they've shown in this year's playoffs, when the games mattered, that no matter how many points they were down, they would respond and rise to the occasion. An incredible turnaround from last season. It's been a treat to watch and an inspiration.

I had wondered if they brought in sports psychologist to work with the team. Because it was something that was an obvious need to me at the end of last season. And yes they did, at the start of the season:

Dr. Jaimie Rubin has been hired into a newly-created position of director of sport psychology and team wellness, the Pacers announced on Thursday. She began in this new role at the first of this week.

https://www.fieldhousefiles.com/p/pacers-add-to-their-wellness-staff-dr-jaimie-rubin-psychology

It's a fantastic hire. The results speak for themselves.

It's not one person that's responsible for a team's success - the talent has to be there, the individual players' commitment to excellence and to the team, the coaching has to be right. Sometimes it's the smallest of things missing when added that lets talent flourish. Like that missing bit of spice to a recipe that takes a dish from mundane to extraordinary. And oh boy aren't the Pacers are cooking now!

[LFGK]

Pacers favored to win the series now. I like their chances even if it gets to a game 7. Just like last season they have New York's number.

last seasons game 7 had no OG/Randle/Mitch (3/5 of the starters) along with bench pieces out.....if this series is 1-1 it will be 2-1 NY and swing back in the knicks favor

[LFGK]

Was that Haliburton shot the luckiest bounce in basketball history? Be that or the Kawhi one. I think Hali one was crazier given the height

ridiculous lol...difference is Kawhi is good and Haliburton is, not..... Kawhi prob hits that shot 60/100, haliburton takes that same shot with mitch coming at him it prob goes in 20/100, water under the bridge, hell of a shot, we move onto game 2.

[Capn'O]

Statistical chance to beat 0-970 record is way way slimmer than hitting 6 threes in a row

And that's still higher odds than me giving a ****.

I also think that using MJ isn’t the best example since he was pissed at people stating Clyde was better at hitting threes. His career finals three point percentage is actually high despite what fans think.

Over 100 3’s at a clip of not far from 40% (37? something like that)
It’s not just luck- both examples were during important tone-setting games, so it has to do with skills, focus and flowstate.

90% of the game is half mental.

[bisme37]

There are usually 2 or 3 times during Knicks games where I think Brunson is injured and completely out of gas, and then he scores the next 4 buckets lol. I bitched about Celtics injuries so I wanted to acknowledge this dude is a gangster and is playing banged up all the time.

[scrabbarista]

Was that Haliburton shot the luckiest bounce in basketball history? Be that or the Kawhi one. I think Hali one was crazier given the height

ridiculous lol...difference is Kawhi is good and Haliburton is, not..... Kawhi prob hits that shot 60/100, haliburton takes that same shot with mitch coming at him it prob goes in 20/100, water under the bridge, hell of a shot, we move onto game 2.

Haliburton is 11-14 to tie or take the lead in the last 2 minutes this season, and that shot isn't even included, or it would be 12-15. That's 79%.

Just saying, maybe he's good...

[bronxknicksfan1]

Which 3 players didn’t play?

KP, Tatum, and Jrue I guess? Jaylen was reportedly injured but with the way he looked in those last two games, he didn't seem any more banged up than Brunson or Towns, but Jrue was really struggling to keep up with Brunson. Which could just be age, dude is 50, or it could be the hammy that bothered him against Orlando.

Granted the series was already lost when Tatum went down, so KP & Jrue are really the only injuries that affected that series. But boston fans have to cling to something to avoid admitting how badly they under-rated what the Knicks were capable of.

Tatum with the wrist and then Achilles. That new celebration he was doing was basically, "my wrist is still jacked and I made a shot!" And then he went out for the season of course.

Jaylen was playing on a partially torn meniscus.

Jrue with a hamstring strain and finger whatever-it-was.

Sam Hauser ankle and back.

KP couldn't breathe.

I didn't wake up today planning to whine about it haha, but saw the conversation and yeah we were hella banged up in the end. And the Knicks played amazingly of course. Everyone tried to diminish the Celtics title last year by saying we played injured teams and it was annoying, so I'm promise I'm not trying to be annoying lol. Thems the breaks.

Bisme, I tried to tell y’all that the Celtics were banged up before the series even started. Respectfully, you showed me the injury report and said they were fine. I’m only going off what you said.

[KP Duty]

Was that Haliburton shot the luckiest bounce in basketball history? Be that or the Kawhi one. I think Hali one was crazier given the height

I don't know, but we flew off the couch hollering in disbelief when it happened. Crazy.

[Beethoven]

Can Pacers tonite pull off another last second win comeback from 20pts down in 4th quarter?