Hawks (5) @ Knicks (4) - Playoffs Round 1 - Game 1 - SUNDAY May 23 - 7:00pm

[prophet_of_rage]

So the format is Sunday Wednesday Sunday? That's a lot of rest for Rose and practice time for any backups including newly arrived Vildoza.

After a month of demoting Payton I cannot for the life of me believe Payton starts or plays.



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Its Sunday, Wed, Friday, Sunday

Still a lot of time

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[Spree2Houston]

WOW Payton really is going to start Game 1. Hawks are winning this series.

[Strick]

Trae Young and that goofy ass hair the 2 possessions per game he’s guarded by Frank

[Capn'O]

They're gonna try to double Randle on the catch. If our shooters are hitting, they'll pay. But the goal is to force Randle to go ISO and trap him.

Starting EP will be a 10 pt handicap per usual if we do it. His man will be the one to double. Can't do that off of Rose, Quick, or even Frank/Vildoza.

[cgf]

Elf averaged 15mpg this month, after getting 19mpg in April, 23mpg in March, 27.5mpg in February & over 29mpg in January.

It's safe to say that Thibs recognizes that Elf is a problem for us.

[makeitstop]

Nets discounting their tickets already. They've got three of the biggest players in the league and can't fill their house.

Read on Twitter

[K_ick_God]

They're gonna try to double Randle on the catch. If our shooters are hitting, they'll pay. But the goal is to force Randle to go ISO and trap him.

Starting EP will be a 10 pt handicap per usual if we do it. His man will be the one to double. Can't do that off of Rose, Quick, or even Frank/Vildoza.

I think doubling Randle is the right call for them. Knicks are relying on some young or unproven players to carry the rest of the load. Even Randle sort of fits into that category (for me). And Randle hasn't shown he's an absolute master at breaking a double. So we shall see.

But just as strategy I think it's the right one.

[SelbyCobra]

They're gonna try to double Randle on the catch. If our shooters are hitting, they'll pay. But the goal is to force Randle to go ISO and trap him.

Starting EP will be a 10 pt handicap per usual if we do it. His man will be the one to double. Can't do that off of Rose, Quick, or even Frank/Vildoza.

Read on Twitter

[cgf]

They're gonna try to double Randle on the catch. If our shooters are hitting, they'll pay. But the goal is to force Randle to go ISO and trap him.

Starting EP will be a 10 pt handicap per usual if we do it. His man will be the one to double. Can't do that off of Rose, Quick, or even Frank/Vildoza.

I think doubling Randle is the right call for them. Knicks are relying on some young or unproven players to carry the rest of the load. Even Randle sort of fits into that category (for me). And Randle hasn't shown he's an absolute master at breaking a double. So we shall see.

But just as strategy I think it's the right one.

At least to start, if Julius is making the right decisions & our shooters are delivering, then we could force them into hoping Hunter can limit Julius 1-on-1...but heading into it they can not let Julius destroy them like he did in the regular season and preventing that should be their 1st, 2nd & 3rd priority.

Our bench is likely to beat up on theirs, so if Julius is leading the starters to do work too, they're going to be in a lot of trouble.

[SelbyCobra]

This series is a toss up to me. I could see the Knicks breaking the Hawks will and taking it convincingly. I can see their shots not falling, getting crushed on the boards, and ATL running them out of the building with ease. I could see a tight series that ends in heartbreak for either side. In the end I obviously hope we see the Knicks team we've seen the past few weeks. Thibs being the coach gives me more hope than usual that they can maintain the intensity and rock-fight results.

[HerSports85]

My goodness, it's only Thursday

[GONYK]

This series is a toss up to me. I could see the Knicks breaking the Hawks will and taking it convincingly. I can see their shots not falling, getting crushed on the boards, and ATL running them out of the building with ease. I could see a tight series that ends in heartbreak for either side. In the end I obviously hope we see the Knicks team we've seen the past few weeks. Thibs being the coach gives me more hope than usual that they can maintain the intensity and rock-fight results.

I think this series comes down to 2 things:

1. How we manage Capela and the rebounding issues he presents
2. Whether or not RJ is able to step up as a reliable 2nd or 3rd option

Everything else is fairly even between these 2 teams

[snadler]

Elf averaged 15mpg this month, after getting 19mpg in April, 23mpg in March, 27.5mpg in February & over 29mpg in January.

It's safe to say that Thibs recognizes that Elf is a problem for us.

Apparently he doesn't recognize it enough

[snadler]

I think it's safe to say that no matter how much we analyze and break down this series, the Knicks odds of winning this series increases tremendously if Payton doesn't see the court, even if it's for 12 minutes, that's still a whole quarter of action, they are not likely to win this series with Payton playing any minutes unless in a blowout. If it's status quo, they will be able to recover maybe 2 times from him but not the necessary 4, and since Thibs we know isn't changing I've made my pick of Hawks in 6. Would love to change it if I knew Payton was sent to the bench to never see the floor. Not only that but Payton won't be able to survive the boos raining down on him from the 13,000 in attendance that hes been lucky to avoid

[stuporman]

That's too bad Luca isn't available to even practice until next Friday...was hoping he could get some practice in this week.

[Nazrmohamed]

They're gonna try to double Randle on the catch. If our shooters are hitting, they'll pay. But the goal is to force Randle to go ISO and trap him.

Starting EP will be a 10 pt handicap per usual if we do it. His man will be the one to double. Can't do that off of Rose, Quick, or even Frank/Vildoza.

I stay up at night thinking of how he's gonna get us swept. Children will tell horror storiesies about this guy.

[adjacent2bench]

Elf averaged 15mpg this month, after getting 19mpg in April, 23mpg in March, 27.5mpg in February & over 29mpg in January.

It's safe to say that Thibs recognizes that Elf is a problem for us.

Apparently he doesn't recognize it enough

Has to be a contract thing. But my thing is, who tf is Elfrid Payton to have a starting stipulation in his contract?

Or maybe Thibs just way too superstitious. I guess it’s a matter of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

[cgf]

Elf averaged 15mpg this month, after getting 19mpg in April, 23mpg in March, 27.5mpg in February & over 29mpg in January.

It's safe to say that Thibs recognizes that Elf is a problem for us.

Apparently he doesn't recognize it enough

Or being in that locker room he may have a different perspective on what dropping Elf from the rotation would mean...especially with everyone so accustomed to the roles that they have been filling. Not many people are going to argue that Elf doesn't suck, but what's best for the locker-room isn't always what's best for the NetRtg, and maybe this is one of those situations

I'm hopeful that that isn't the case and Thibs just didn't have the time between games to make that big of a change to the rotation without risking us falling out of the 4/5 match up and is currently getting everyone used to Burks or Quickley starting...but there could well be some morale/tactical reasoning that just can not be deciphered from the outside.

[snadler]

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But the Knicks aren’t cool

[Oscirus]

I still say the x factor in this series is rj. If Rowan's on for most of the series, we win, if not, it will be tragic.