ballzboyee wrote:It's hard to really judge this Knicks team. Detroit almost took them to seven games, and they very easily could have lost that series as every game was decided by a couple of points. After blowing multiple 20+ point leads I think it's basically a borderline miracle that Boston did not eliminate them. You have to give them credit for storming back, but nine times out of ten that's not happening, especially on the road. Also the Knicks getting blown out by a Boston team that not only did not have Tatum but also with Porzingis basically not being able play is very troubling. I think Porz played 12 minutes and had like 1 point. How do they get blown out by that Boston team in a close-out game? Knicks were a .500 team after the all-star game. Their overall record is not that great when you realize they got swept against nearly ever good team they played in the regular season. They were 0-4 against Boston, 0-4 against Cleveland, 0-2 against OKC, 0-2 vs Clippers, 0-2 vs Warriors, 0-2 vs Lakers, etc. They had so few quality wins in the RS. They padded their record through by beating up on the worst teams in the league in the East like the Wizards, Toronto, 76ers, Charlotte, Miami, etc. They basically had to sweep all of those teams otherwise they are a sub forty-five win squad.
On paper this Knicks teams is ever so slightly above average. Definitely not an elite team. Maybe they are just getting hot at the right moment or maybe they matchup well with the Pacers and this carries them to the Finals. But, generally, teams are what their regular season record reflects, especially when you starting talking about tier one matchups in the playoffs. Pacers closed the season on fire and were 20-9 after the all-star break. Pacers lost three of four against the Bucks in the RS and in the playoffs almost swept them. Cleveland actually did not play bad at all n their series against Indiana, the Pacers just displayed a flawless brand of unbeatable basketball. They were just utterly dominant. The series against Cleveland was an insane display of just masterful coaching and execution at all levels.
In summary, a lot red flags in my book for the Knicks. I'll take the Pacers to win in six or seven games.
To start…when did the Pistons almost take out the Knicks? Almost took them out in 7? They were down 3-1 and lost in 6. That isn’t exactly almost taking out anyone.
Knicks coming back against Boston down +20 twice…yeah, they did the improbable against the defending champs. That doesn’t happen. Kinda says a lot about this team that did it not once, but twice on the road. As for getting blown out by Boston in a game without Tatum…they still had another All Star forward with 2 All Defensive team guards out there playing for their pride being down 3-1 when they were fully healthy. Knicks played like ****…then promptly disposed of them in a 38 point blowout the next game.
Bringing up the team’s regular season record against top teams…what’s the point of this? Let’s point out that they were 2-1 against the Pacers this season if that matters so much. Or 2-0 against the Nuggets. or 2-0 against Memphis. Or 3-0 against the Bucks. It’s easy to cherry pick certain matchups and try to create an agenda against a team. But guess what? As you said, the Celtics were 4-0 against them…got taken out in 6 games.
And please, the Cavs had Garland out there playing on a sprained toe. Mobley was on a sprained ankle. Hunter had a dislocated thumb. That team wasn’t close to looking like they were in the regular season since Donovan was out there playing hero ball to make up for those injuries. This isn’t to say that the Pacers wouldn’t have won that series regardless, but making it seem like those injuries didn’t have an impact is laughable.
If the Knicks haven’t proven anything in these playoffs, the Pacers have done much less.