Sports Mole previews Saturday’s NBA clash between New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, including predictions, team news and form guides.
The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers will reconvene for the second instalment of their Eastern Conference finals matchup at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Off the back of a thrilling victory in Thursday’s series opener, the visitors will be seeking to seize further control of proceedings with a win here, while the home side will have their sights set on restoring parity.
Match preview
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In a classic case of ‘what goes around comes around’, the New York Knicks were on the receiving end of a stunning renaissance two weeks after pulling off the second of two straight 20-point comebacks in their second-round series against the Boston Celtics.
Leading by 17 points with six-and-a-half minutes left, Tom Thibodeau‘s men looked set to claim game one in front of their fans before inexplicably surrendering their advantage to send the game to overtime.
From yet another strong position in additional time, the Knicks capitulated once again to give rise to one of the biggest collapses in NBA playoff history en route to a 138-135 loss which stunned the Garden into silence at full time.
This was despite the best efforts of Jalen Brunson (43) and Karl-Anthony Towns (35), who became the first pair of Knicks teammates to score 35+ points in a playoff game as they combined for 78 points on 62% shooting.
Having won both Game Ones of their two series so far, the Knicks will now have to come from behind to reach their first NBA finals since 1994, when they also beat the Pacers in one of numerous playoff matchups between the sides in the 90s.
© Imago
The Indiana Pacers have served up several mind-boggling victories in their current playoff journey, but Thursday’s win might just be the pick of the bunch given the added spectacle of doing it at one of the game’s most famed arenas.
On a night where a team managed to overturn a 14-point deficit in the final 110 seconds of a playoff game for the first time ever, Rick Carlisle‘s men just would not go away and were duly rewarded for their never-say-die attitude.
Tyrese Haliburton came up clutch once again for his side as he tallied a team-high 31 points, including the game-tying two at the end of regulation time, which saw him whip out the famous Reggie Miller ‘choke’ celebration with the Pacers legend in attendance.
However, Aaron Nesmith also rose to the occasion with a post-season high of 30 points, but it was his fourth quarter display that caught the eye as he knocked down six threes to become the first player in playoff history to do so.
Aiming to go one better than they did last time in their Eastern Conference finals defeat to the Boston Celtics, the Pacers are now just three wins away from playing for the big prize, and momentum is strongly on their side.
New York Knicks NBA Playoffs form:
Indiana Pacers NBA Playoffs form:
Team News
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Precious Achiuwa is the Knicks’ only injury concern for this one as the forward prepares to miss a second straight match due to an ankle injury since featuring in Game Five against the Celtics.
Albeit in defeat, Brunson became the first Knicks player to put up 40 points in a conference finals game and will be looking to come up with the goods once again.
Isaiah Jackson will continue to will his Pacers teammates on from the sidelines, with a calf problem ruling the 23-year-old out of action for the last six months.
With up to six players in double digits for points on Thursday, the away side enjoyed a real team effort on their way to victory, highlighting their strength in depth.
New York Knicks possible starting five:
Brunson, Hart; Bridges, Anunoby; Towns
Indiana Pacers possible starting five:
Haliburton, Nembhard; Nesmith, Siakam; Turner
We say: Knicks to win by 4+ points
The Knicks are in need of a big performance here, as going 2-0 down before heading to Indianapolis would leave them in a precarious situation.
We are backing the home side to come out on top and restore parity in the series.
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