1
00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:07,520
Speaker 1: The volume. The NBA eighty two game grind is done,

2
00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,240
Speaker 1: and now the real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs aren't here,

3
00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,920
Speaker 1: and it's time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments,

4
00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,079
Speaker 1: and jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking

5
00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,200
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs even more exciting, DraftKings Sportsbook has

6
00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,880
Speaker 1: you covered as an official sports betting partner of the

7
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,919
Speaker 1: NBA from the playing games all the way through to

8
00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,599
Speaker 1: the finals. Now's the time to back your favorite players

9
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: and teams as they chase glory. All season long. DraftKings

10
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,640
Speaker 1: has been the go to spot for NBA player props

11
00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:33,400
Speaker 1: and that does not stop. Now. Want to make your

12
00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,159
Speaker 1: playoff experience even more intense, Try placing a bet on

13
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,360
Speaker 1: your favorite player's performance. Well they drop thirty points, forty

14
00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,280
Speaker 1: or more, it's your call. Ready to place your first bet?

15
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook gap Now lock in your bets.

16
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,479
Speaker 1: Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something special for

17
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,600
Speaker 1: first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars to get

18
00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,920
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly make it a

19
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,400
Speaker 1: playoff run to remember with DraftKings. Download the Draft Kings

20
00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,440
Speaker 1: sportsbook gap and use code hoops. That's h oops. That's

21
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,120
Speaker 1: code hoops for new customers to get two hundred dollars

22
00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,720
Speaker 1: in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only

23
00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,080
Speaker 1: on DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem called Wayne

24
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,120
Speaker 1: hundred gambler in New York call eight seven seven eight

25
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,360
Speaker 1: Hope and y or text hope and why to four

26
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,280
Speaker 1: six seven three six nine and Connecticut help us available

27
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,199
Speaker 1: for problem gambling call eight eight eight seven eight nine

28
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,920
Speaker 1: seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please

29
00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,600
Speaker 1: play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in

30
00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,160
Speaker 1: Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.

31
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,959
Speaker 1: Void in Ontario. New customers only. Bonus bets expire one

32
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,120
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms

33
00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:46,200
Speaker 1: and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co. Slash audio.

34
00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 1: All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at the volume

35
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,120
Speaker 1: heavy sun to every hopeful. If you guys are having

36
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,120
Speaker 1: a great weekend as promised, We're getting to our Eastern

37
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,320
Speaker 1: Conference Finals preview today, So I mean the New York

38
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,200
Speaker 1: Knicks and the Indiana Pacers what should be a very

39
00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,040
Speaker 1: entertaining series. Two very different teams than we expected to

40
00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,720
Speaker 1: see at this point in time, but two teams that

41
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,040
Speaker 1: are playing great basketball led by two elite guards. It's

42
00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,000
Speaker 1: gonna be super fascinating. We're going to get into it,

43
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,120
Speaker 1: like we usually do, from a bunch of different angles.

44
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,360
Speaker 1: We'll talk about the season series, we'll talk about the

45
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,799
Speaker 1: gambling odds on DraftKings, we'll talk about the pacers with

46
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,799
Speaker 1: the ball, the Knicks with the ball. We'll talk a

47
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: little bit about the respective bench units, and then we

48
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,000
Speaker 1: will get to our prediction. You guys know the job

49
00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:35,600
Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to Night

50
00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,240
Speaker 1: YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos.

51
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,480
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS. You guys don't

52
00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,239
Speaker 1: miss show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed where

53
00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,440
Speaker 1: you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super

54
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,800
Speaker 1: helpful if you leave a rating in a review on

55
00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:49,720
Speaker 1: that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media

56
00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Make sure you guys

57
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 1: follow us there. In last but not least, keep dropping

58
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,560
Speaker 1: mail bag questions in the YouTube comments that we can

59
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 1: get to to our mail bags in our mail bags

60
00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:00,880
Speaker 1: throughout the remainder of the post season. All right, let's

61
00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,160
Speaker 1: talk some basketball. So season series the Knicks one two

62
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,880
Speaker 1: to one. Two of the games took place in the

63
00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,240
Speaker 1: first couple weeks of the season. That's the only game

64
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,600
Speaker 1: where like everyone actually played was in October, so not

65
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:15,440
Speaker 1: too much to take away there, But the metrics that

66
00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,080
Speaker 1: came out of those three games. The Knicks log Day

67
00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,520
Speaker 1: one to twenty six offensive rating in the three games.

68
00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,480
Speaker 1: The Pacers log Day one to fifteen offensive rating in

69
00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,680
Speaker 1: the three games. The Knicks also dominated the glass. They

70
00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,080
Speaker 1: grabbed fifty three point six percent of available rebounds and

71
00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: they grabbed over thirty percent of their own misses in

72
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 1: this matchup in the regular season. Our odds, again, they

73
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,800
Speaker 1: are provided by our partner DraftKings. The Knicks are currently

74
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,240
Speaker 1: a minus one forty favorite to win the series. I

75
00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: think that's a good betting opportunity. On the Indiana side,

76
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,920
Speaker 1: I view this as very much a coin flip series,

77
00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:50,760
Speaker 1: and I think the Pacers are a slightly better team,

78
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,280
Speaker 1: But I think the Knicks have home court advantage and

79
00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,280
Speaker 1: that that obviously matters, so that to me makes it

80
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,040
Speaker 1: a coin flip and in a coin flip to get

81
00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,280
Speaker 1: Indy at plus one twenty is obviously the better price

82
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,240
Speaker 1: for me. Let's start with the Pacers on the ball,

83
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,920
Speaker 1: so matchups. McHale Bridges regard Tyres Haliburton. He did a

84
00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,440
Speaker 1: good job there in the regular season. Tyre's average seventeen

85
00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,360
Speaker 1: to nine in the three games on forty four percent

86
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,080
Speaker 1: from the field twenty six percent from three But again

87
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,560
Speaker 1: it's worth mentioning, like we did in the Friday Night Show,

88
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,280
Speaker 1: Tyres is just playing at a substantially higher level now

89
00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,760
Speaker 1: than he did when these games took place. But Michale

90
00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 1: does have the tools for it. He has a good motor,

91
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,080
Speaker 1: he navigates screens well, he's got the length to pressure

92
00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,520
Speaker 1: from behind, he can peel switch, and I think we

93
00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,719
Speaker 1: will see some switching, especially in Halliburton Siakam actions, in

94
00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,040
Speaker 1: this series. I'd also consider if I was Tom Thibodeaux

95
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,599
Speaker 1: and McHale Bridges trying to deny Tyres Haliburton the ball.

96
00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,359
Speaker 1: The Cavs did a lot of this in their second

97
00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,080
Speaker 1: round series and actually had some success playing Halliburton into

98
00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 1: some passive stretches just by denying him the ball. Like

99
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: ball goes in the basket instead of letting him inbound

100
00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,000
Speaker 1: just stand in front of Tyres Haliburton and maybe he'll

101
00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:00,760
Speaker 1: just kind of let someone else take it and just

102
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,839
Speaker 1: kind of it just kind of plays him into passivity.

103
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,479
Speaker 1: So that's something that I would potentially consider if I

104
00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,360
Speaker 1: was Tom Thibodham. They have Jalen Brunson guard Andrew Nemhard,

105
00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,400
Speaker 1: which I think is fascinating. Right. What you would think

106
00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:14,279
Speaker 1: is you put him on a guy like aaron Ne Smith.

107
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,720
Speaker 1: But I think this is the right call to move

108
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,760
Speaker 1: Brunson over to Nemhard. Nie Smith is playing super well

109
00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,120
Speaker 1: as of late, and he brings a ton of athletic

110
00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,000
Speaker 1: force to the position, so it actually makes sense to

111
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,480
Speaker 1: have Josh Hart, a better athlete, try to match Aaron

112
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:35,240
Speaker 1: Nesmith's athletic force. Now, as far as Brunson on Nemhard,

113
00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,840
Speaker 1: there will still be some issues there. Indiana will find

114
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,359
Speaker 1: ways to attack Brunson there. Nemhard can run action on

115
00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,200
Speaker 1: the ball that will force Brunson to either pursue through

116
00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,360
Speaker 1: screens or to switch on to Biggs. Nemhard will also

117
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 1: run inverted action as the screener. He'll screen for Halliburton

118
00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,760
Speaker 1: or he'll screen for Siakam and in those situations, I

119
00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,760
Speaker 1: expect Brunson to hedge and recover. And so in those gaps,

120
00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:02,159
Speaker 1: like Nemhard screens for let's say yakam and Brunson doesn't

121
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,200
Speaker 1: want to switch on a Siakam, he'll throw the hedge

122
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,160
Speaker 1: Nemhart slips out of it, there's an opening there for

123
00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,159
Speaker 1: Nemhart to catch and try to look to attack. And

124
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:11,839
Speaker 1: so that's a big way that I think we'll see

125
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,359
Speaker 1: Nemhard look to attack Brunson. I emphasize differences in the

126
00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,320
Speaker 1: Friday Night Show. If you guys remember between what the

127
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,479
Speaker 1: Celtics Knicks matchup looked like and what the Pacers Knicks

128
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,599
Speaker 1: matchup looked like. This is one of those ways, like

129
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,120
Speaker 1: Brunson defended really well in that Celtics series, but it

130
00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,280
Speaker 1: was different. There's a lot of like one on one

131
00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,960
Speaker 1: defense against Brunson, or excuse me, against Jalen Brown and

132
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,920
Speaker 1: against Jason Tatum. They weren't really posting him so much

133
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:37,640
Speaker 1: as they were isoing him, and they were kind of

134
00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,080
Speaker 1: like settling for tough, contested jump shots over the top

135
00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,080
Speaker 1: of Brunson. This is going to be more of a

136
00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 1: test of speed. It's gonna be a situation where he's

137
00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,560
Speaker 1: gonna need to fly around out of those hedges to

138
00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,960
Speaker 1: get back into rotation as Nemhart looks to attack. Obviously,

139
00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,480
Speaker 1: Brunson defended well against Boston, but this is a different matchup.

140
00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:01,559
Speaker 1: How well Brunson defends will play a big role. Josh

141
00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,599
Speaker 1: Hard on Aaron E. Smith. Aaron Smith's just a better

142
00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,600
Speaker 1: player than he was last year. He's shooting fifty two

143
00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,120
Speaker 1: percent on unguarded catch and shoot threes in the playoffs,

144
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,400
Speaker 1: so you can't leave them open. He's shooting forty six

145
00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,200
Speaker 1: percent on guarded catch and shoot jump shots in the playoffs,

146
00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:17,840
Speaker 1: so if you get there in time, it might not

147
00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,239
Speaker 1: even matter. And he's shooting fifty four percent on twos

148
00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,200
Speaker 1: when he drives closeouts, including seven for twelve on mid

149
00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,720
Speaker 1: range jump shots. He's putting the ball on the floor

150
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,280
Speaker 1: against the closeout, snatch back, dribble pull up in the

151
00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,200
Speaker 1: mid range, spin over his right shoulder pull up in

152
00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 1: the mid range. Like he's got some really high level

153
00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,640
Speaker 1: shot making that he's bringing to the table. At this point.

154
00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,320
Speaker 1: He's averaging fifteen points per game in the playoffs. He

155
00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,080
Speaker 1: had a twenty three point game against the Cavs there's

156
00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,040
Speaker 1: real volume scoring there. He's also the best offensive rebounder

157
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,480
Speaker 1: on the team. He gets one point six offensive rebounds

158
00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,679
Speaker 1: in this postseason per game. That's more than Miles Turner,

159
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,520
Speaker 1: more than anybody else on the team. He relentlessly slashes

160
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,160
Speaker 1: and crashes and all that kind of stuff because he's

161
00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,320
Speaker 1: a ball pressure guy who wants to pick up Brunson

162
00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 1: full court anyway, So he's gonna end up around the

163
00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,880
Speaker 1: basket anywhere on anyway trying to deny him, catches trying

164
00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,880
Speaker 1: to pick him up. So all that crashing and slashing

165
00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,720
Speaker 1: just kind of fits into what his role is on

166
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,200
Speaker 1: the defensive end anyway. So I think between the volume

167
00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,400
Speaker 1: scoring and the offensive rebounding and all that athletic force,

168
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,560
Speaker 1: it makes sense to have Josh Hart be the guy

169
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 1: who's taken those hits. Especially with Brunson having to pick

170
00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:28,560
Speaker 1: up a lot of like we just talked about a

171
00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,160
Speaker 1: lot of that full court pressure, you don't want to

172
00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,240
Speaker 1: have him also take wear and tear trying to deal

173
00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:34,840
Speaker 1: with Aaron E. Smith just being a pain in the

174
00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,880
Speaker 1: ass athlete. If you don't believe that's an issue, as

175
00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,680
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell, who just had to do in the last

176
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,240
Speaker 1: round and at one point got slammed into the ground

177
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,480
Speaker 1: off of a dunk on an offensive rebound when he

178
00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,719
Speaker 1: tried to match up with Aeron Smith crashing down the

179
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,640
Speaker 1: lane on a free throw. Oj Annobi on Pascal Siaka,

180
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,360
Speaker 1: Siakam attacked Og one on one and attempted a shot

181
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,880
Speaker 1: just twice this season, a couple of pretty tough contested

182
00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 1: pull up that he made and then a more open

183
00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:01,800
Speaker 1: up off of a move where he got good separation.

184
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:03,880
Speaker 1: So he's two for two. But again, I don't think

185
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,439
Speaker 1: we'll see a ton of that outside of late clock situations,

186
00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,640
Speaker 1: and the Pacers are not using Siakam a ton on

187
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,520
Speaker 1: the ball in these playoffs regardless. He's logged seventy five

188
00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,640
Speaker 1: shot attempts in spot up situations in transition and slipping

189
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,560
Speaker 1: out of ball screens, but only forty four shot attempts

190
00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,040
Speaker 1: in post ups ISOs in ball screens as the handler,

191
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,840
Speaker 1: So like it's not as exaggerated as it is with

192
00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,520
Speaker 1: Og on offense, because Og similarly has been way more

193
00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,439
Speaker 1: aggressive off ball than he's been on ball. But even

194
00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,120
Speaker 1: with Siakam was a better on ball player, He's doing

195
00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,319
Speaker 1: most of his work, like two thirds of his work

196
00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,760
Speaker 1: off the ball. The transition sequences and spot ups are

197
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: self explanatory. He's knocking down catch and shoot threes, driving

198
00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 1: clothes outs, just pushing the ball in transition with his athleticism.

199
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,160
Speaker 1: But the stuff like popping out of pick and roll

200
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,240
Speaker 1: or posts up in ISO situations, that stuff is interesting.

201
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,240
Speaker 1: Siakam got a lot of pick and pop looks in

202
00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,560
Speaker 1: the first two rounds in large part because the bucks

203
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,400
Speaker 1: and calves re guarding him with bigs. There was some switching,

204
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:02,880
Speaker 1: but there were a lot of sequences where he was

205
00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,760
Speaker 1: open on pick and pops. This series, if Mikale Bridges

206
00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,480
Speaker 1: is on Tyree s Halliburton and Ojn Andobi's on Siakam,

207
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,319
Speaker 1: they're switching that ball screen. So he's not going to

208
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,200
Speaker 1: get as many picking pop threes as he did in

209
00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:18,480
Speaker 1: that second round series. He might still get some in

210
00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,800
Speaker 1: some specific screening actions. I just don't expect it to

211
00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,080
Speaker 1: be as big of a factor as it was in

212
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,320
Speaker 1: earlier rounds. So it will come down to Siakam attacking

213
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:31,560
Speaker 1: one on one in ISO and post up situations, most

214
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,400
Speaker 1: likely not against Brunson, because again, as we look in

215
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,680
Speaker 1: the at any of the previous matchups between these teams,

216
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:39,360
Speaker 1: they just had you to recover with him and try

217
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,280
Speaker 1: to keep him off Siakam at all costs. But throughout

218
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,600
Speaker 1: this season and last year in the second round, the

219
00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:51,880
Speaker 1: favorite matchup for Siakam against the Knicks has been Josh Hart.

220
00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:54,400
Speaker 1: If you guys remember this. Last year in the postseason,

221
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,920
Speaker 1: Siakam just horched him over and over and over again,

222
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,520
Speaker 1: especially after ogn Andobi went down towards the tail end

223
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,880
Speaker 1: of the series. They were just straight up double teaming

224
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,679
Speaker 1: those post ups on Josh Hart. It was a problem.

225
00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,840
Speaker 1: Even this year in the regular season, the player Siakam

226
00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,160
Speaker 1: looked to attack most and switches with oj Andnobe available.

227
00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,480
Speaker 1: With McHale Bridges on the team, he wanted to go

228
00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:23,120
Speaker 1: after Josh Hart. That's his favorite matchup there. As for

229
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 1: Ojan Andobi's job specifically in this matchup with Siakam, outside

230
00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,240
Speaker 1: of the few times that will see him guard Siakam

231
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,240
Speaker 1: one on one, it's just helping recover situations, right, A

232
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,280
Speaker 1: lot of situations where he's going to be digging down,

233
00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,000
Speaker 1: diving at the basketball, but also getting out to Siakam

234
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,320
Speaker 1: did a great job of that in the Celtics series.

235
00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,080
Speaker 1: He's arguably the Knicks best defender. I expect him to

236
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,439
Speaker 1: be great again in this series. Karl Anthony Towns and

237
00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,120
Speaker 1: Miles Turner. This matchup is interesting on both ends of

238
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,400
Speaker 1: the floor because when Miles Turner is on offense, he's

239
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,959
Speaker 1: obviously not as good offensively as Cat, but Cat's not

240
00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:57,920
Speaker 1: as good defensively as he is, So it's like I'm

241
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,199
Speaker 1: that into the floor. They're both like lesser versions of themselves.

242
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,679
Speaker 1: But then when the Knicks are on offense, Kat's obviously

243
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,079
Speaker 1: substantially better, but Miles is substantially better, so it's a

244
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,440
Speaker 1: different challenge there. But again, when the Pacers have the ball,

245
00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:10,520
Speaker 1: this is where I have the most concern for the

246
00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,160
Speaker 1: Knicks defense in this matchup. Miles Turner is doing a

247
00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,640
Speaker 1: ton of damage as an off ball scorer in these playoffs,

248
00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,520
Speaker 1: shooting forty five from three on four attempts per game.

249
00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,640
Speaker 1: He'll take them spotting up, he'll take them popping, He'll

250
00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:24,800
Speaker 1: roll to the elbows and shoot a little short jump shots.

251
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,400
Speaker 1: He's doing a ton of work there. So Kat's job

252
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,200
Speaker 1: in those help and recover situations will be to whether

253
00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,000
Speaker 1: it's in a drop coverage or it's helping off of

254
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,800
Speaker 1: an action somewhere else on the floor to just make

255
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,200
Speaker 1: sure he towes that line between being in there to

256
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,439
Speaker 1: help but also making sure he gets out to contest

257
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,920
Speaker 1: Miles Turner. The Pacers are very good at relentlessly hunting

258
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,800
Speaker 1: those kinds of reads, and so Kat is going to

259
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,559
Speaker 1: be the primary entry point that the Pacers look to attack. Now,

260
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:54,040
Speaker 1: before we go to the Knicks on offense, I want

261
00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,920
Speaker 1: to highlight Tyre's Halliburton for a minute. He's obviously the

262
00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,000
Speaker 1: engine that makes this offense go right with his kick ahead, passes,

263
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,360
Speaker 1: the pace he plays within the half court, the relentless

264
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,560
Speaker 1: advantage hunting all that stuff. But there will be, in

265
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,640
Speaker 1: all likelihood a few close games in this series, and

266
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:12,760
Speaker 1: in those moments, Halliburton's going to be competing with the

267
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,480
Speaker 1: player in Brunson, who has been far and away the

268
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:20,319
Speaker 1: best clutch player in the NBA. In this postseason. Brunson

269
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,000
Speaker 1: has scored forty three clutch points in these playoffs. No

270
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,480
Speaker 1: other player in the NBA scored more than twenty six. Now,

271
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,599
Speaker 1: to be clear, Halliburton has had a great clutch postseason.

272
00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,680
Speaker 1: Two twenty points on fifteen shots, two game winners each

273
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,080
Speaker 1: that ended, one that ended a series, and one that

274
00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,480
Speaker 1: stole Game two on the road in Cleveland, and the

275
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,800
Speaker 1: Pacers are actually yet to lose a clutch game in

276
00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,079
Speaker 1: this postseason thanks to two last minute seven point comebacks,

277
00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,320
Speaker 1: both captured by Halliburton game winners. But the point is

278
00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,200
Speaker 1: we're gonna see these slow down showdowns, switch hunting matchup,

279
00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,480
Speaker 1: attacking isolation contests between Brunson and Haliburton, and which direction

280
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,840
Speaker 1: those games go could potentially swing the series. It's just

281
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,480
Speaker 1: something to keep an eye on, all right. The key

282
00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,240
Speaker 1: for the Knicks defense before we move on defensive communication

283
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,720
Speaker 1: and effort in rotation between the relentless transition pushes that

284
00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,720
Speaker 1: Indiana's famous for and accounting for Turner spacing off of

285
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:21,200
Speaker 1: Kat and Siakam drawing double teams on guys like Josh

286
00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:22,880
Speaker 1: Hart and the Post or whoever else it might be,

287
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,440
Speaker 1: or if it's brunts and hedging and recovering and and

288
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,760
Speaker 1: Nemhard getting clean catches, whatever it is, the Knicks will

289
00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,000
Speaker 1: likely spend most of the series in man down situations,

290
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,880
Speaker 1: meaning someone for Indiana will be open and the Knicks

291
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,720
Speaker 1: will have to rotate to that guy. Oj McHale and

292
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,760
Speaker 1: Josh Hart are all fantastic rotators when they are locked in,

293
00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,120
Speaker 1: but as many Knicks fans will tell you, they can

294
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:47,440
Speaker 1: also have bad nights. So that's something to keep an

295
00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,080
Speaker 1: eye on. If they have one too many of those

296
00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,880
Speaker 1: bad nights, it could cost them the series. All right,

297
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,560
Speaker 1: let's move to New York. On offense, I expect Aaron E.

298
00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,520
Speaker 1: Smith to start on Jalen Brunson. We have a pretty

299
00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,960
Speaker 1: solid say now of Nemhar doing a good job on Brunson,

300
00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,560
Speaker 1: but Brunson just being a bit too strong for nem

301
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,600
Speaker 1: hard and very capable of shooting over the top. So

302
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,080
Speaker 1: and also just based on what happened last in their

303
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,040
Speaker 1: final regular season matchup in February this year, Carlisle started

304
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,320
Speaker 1: with Knie Smith on Brunson, so I think we'll see

305
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,240
Speaker 1: a Nie Smith on there. Brunson has had success against

306
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,320
Speaker 1: Nie Smith, but it just looks harder. He's bigger and stronger,

307
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,680
Speaker 1: can't bump him as easily. It's harder for him to

308
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:32,080
Speaker 1: shoot over the top. I think that makes the most sense.

309
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,360
Speaker 1: Ball pressure is going to be the key here. The

310
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,360
Speaker 1: Pacers will likely attempt to pick up Jalen Brunson full

311
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:43,160
Speaker 1: court all series, and Brunson's good at handling pressure, but

312
00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,800
Speaker 1: there's a wear and tear factor. It could lead to

313
00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,360
Speaker 1: fatigue for Brunson as games progress or as the series progresses,

314
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,360
Speaker 1: So the Knicks could look to mitigate this by having

315
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,480
Speaker 1: someone else bring the ball at the floor right, Have

316
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,960
Speaker 1: Josh Hart bring it up, have Michael Bridges bring it up.

317
00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,400
Speaker 1: But the Pacers will pressure that guy too. They ball

318
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,000
Speaker 1: pressure everyone full court. So it's just on the Knicks

319
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,280
Speaker 1: to avoid getting sped up, to avoid losing control of

320
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,040
Speaker 1: the game, and those like defense to transition sequences because

321
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,680
Speaker 1: they turn the ball over take bad shots against ball pressure.

322
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,720
Speaker 1: That is going to be a big swing factor in

323
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: this series. As for Nie Smith and Nemhard, the job

324
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,040
Speaker 1: is just stay attached and make them work. In the

325
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,000
Speaker 1: regular season, in pick and roll, the Pacers used at

326
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:32,400
Speaker 1: the level coverages with both Turner and Bryan, meaning meeting

327
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,800
Speaker 1: Brunson before he can come around and turn the corner.

328
00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:37,920
Speaker 1: That actually made Brunson more of a scorer, and his

329
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,560
Speaker 1: scoring totals were lower in this matchup. In the regular

330
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,040
Speaker 1: season the average about twenty points per game efficiently, but

331
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,360
Speaker 1: only about twenty points per game. They made him get

332
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,960
Speaker 1: rid of the ball more. But there's two edges to that.

333
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,600
Speaker 1: Sword Kat lit up the Pacers this year in that

334
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,600
Speaker 1: pacer in that coverage. If you're bringing two on the

335
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,680
Speaker 1: ball to attend to Brunson, there are going to be

336
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,640
Speaker 1: advantages beneath on the pop or if they rotate to

337
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,920
Speaker 1: the pop on the weak side, like that's where the

338
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,119
Speaker 1: Knicks did a lot of damage to Indiana this year. Again,

339
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 1: the job though, dealing with Brunson in those ball screens,

340
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,240
Speaker 1: it's a bracket. So whether it's Miles Turner or it's

341
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,480
Speaker 1: Thomas Bryant, they got to be active up at the

342
00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:18,399
Speaker 1: level of the screen and then Nemhard and Knee Smith

343
00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,760
Speaker 1: just have to chase over the top, stay attached right

344
00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,359
Speaker 1: in ISO situations. And again we know Brunson will ISO

345
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,280
Speaker 1: those guys straight up dozens of times in this series.

346
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,560
Speaker 1: Slide your feet, take contact in the chest, attack his

347
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,640
Speaker 1: base before he goes up, get a good contest, live

348
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,639
Speaker 1: with the results. Hope he wears down. But to be clear,

349
00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,280
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson is just playing at an incredibly high level

350
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,199
Speaker 1: right now and there's only so much you can do.

351
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,280
Speaker 1: Andrew nev Hart will start on Michal Bridges. Mchaal struggled

352
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,200
Speaker 1: in this matchup in the regular season just twelve points

353
00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,480
Speaker 1: per game, shot twenty percent from three, but he shot

354
00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,440
Speaker 1: poorly in general to start the season, and two of

355
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,879
Speaker 1: those games happened during that stretch. McHale's role on the

356
00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,600
Speaker 1: Knicks is interesting. When Brunson's on the floor, he'll run

357
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,760
Speaker 1: some second side action, but he mostly looks to attack

358
00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,520
Speaker 1: off the catch and in transition. He has not shot

359
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,200
Speaker 1: the ball very well in this postseason, but he has

360
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,080
Speaker 1: hit some very important threes. When Brunson is off the floor,

361
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,400
Speaker 1: They've been leaning into him as like a ball handler

362
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:15,760
Speaker 1: and spread pick and roll at the top of the

363
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,920
Speaker 1: key with Mitchell Robinson, and he's been getting some looks

364
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,639
Speaker 1: in the midrange to drop. He shot well there forty

365
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,879
Speaker 1: four percent on fifty two attempts on twos inside of

366
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,600
Speaker 1: seventeen feet in the playoffs. He's won games for the

367
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,760
Speaker 1: Knicks in this playoff run. Hitting those shots for Nemhard

368
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,400
Speaker 1: just about getting contests, rear view contests and pick and roll. Obviously,

369
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,240
Speaker 1: Turner and Briant got to be active with their hands

370
00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,000
Speaker 1: up in their drop coverages, but also in general and

371
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,080
Speaker 1: in spot up situations. Nemhard just has to get a

372
00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,040
Speaker 1: hand up. There's been a consistent trend this year. This

373
00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:51,479
Speaker 1: actually extends to Og and Josh Hart so to stand by.

374
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,639
Speaker 1: We'll get to that in a minute. But with McHale

375
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,200
Speaker 1: bridges in the regular season and in the playoffs, where

376
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,240
Speaker 1: his shooting has gone down substantially from unguarded to guard it,

377
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:06,040
Speaker 1: we've seen what happens. He elevates comically high and kicks

378
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 1: his legs. Every time he gets rushed on a three.

379
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,880
Speaker 1: He just responds by making it like a really tough shot, right,

380
00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,199
Speaker 1: And he's hit some of those, but he makes them

381
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,160
Speaker 1: tougher and his percentages go down. So all you gotta

382
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:19,160
Speaker 1: do if your nem haard is just focus on making

383
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,639
Speaker 1: sure that you get a quality contest in those situations.

384
00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:26,919
Speaker 1: Skim on og Nanobi. As mentioned earlier, ojn Andobi has

385
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,719
Speaker 1: just been a more exaggerated off ball version of what

386
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,399
Speaker 1: Siakam is. There's some on ball stuff. He'll run a

387
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,640
Speaker 1: handful of ball screens, ISOs and post ups. You'll see

388
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,120
Speaker 1: about four of them per game in the postseason. He's

389
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,400
Speaker 1: efficient on him. He gets just over a point per possession,

390
00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:42,760
Speaker 1: but it's super low volume. But Og is super aggressive

391
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,159
Speaker 1: off the ball. He's taking one hundred and eighteen shots

392
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,560
Speaker 1: in this postseason. In transition and spot up situations, he's

393
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,280
Speaker 1: shooting forty eight percent on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots.

394
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,760
Speaker 1: He is the quintessential off ball scoring forward, as we've

395
00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 1: talked about so much this season. So siakam a lot

396
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,080
Speaker 1: of help and recover decity. How well can he account

397
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,120
Speaker 1: for helping in the paint on other actions while also

398
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,639
Speaker 1: making sure that he gets contests in containment on closeouts

399
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:13,359
Speaker 1: against oj Anoby once again, get the contest in this postseason,

400
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,200
Speaker 1: oj Anobe drops from forty eight percent to twenty four

401
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,240
Speaker 1: percent on catch and shoot jump shots when you just

402
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,720
Speaker 1: can test him per s energy. Tyre's Halliburton on Josh

403
00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,600
Speaker 1: Hart in theory, this is the perfect heedge and recover option. Right,

404
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,280
Speaker 1: Josh Hart's not a movement shooter, but there are two

405
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:35,000
Speaker 1: potential options here. And remember when I say like when

406
00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,639
Speaker 1: I say like movement shooting to beat hedging, all that

407
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,040
Speaker 1: means is Halliburn's throwing a hedge. There is a slipping

408
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,240
Speaker 1: Josh Hart who's wide open. Now he's got to shoot,

409
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: slipping out of that screen with the ball coming from

410
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,119
Speaker 1: his side as he's running to his side. It's just

411
00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:52,240
Speaker 1: a difficult type of shots, very different than a pick

412
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,240
Speaker 1: and pop where he can just linger around the top

413
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,280
Speaker 1: of the key while the center is sinking way down

414
00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,640
Speaker 1: into the paint. And it's more the pass is coming

415
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,320
Speaker 1: more for the front, and he's got all day to

416
00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:05,680
Speaker 1: look at it. Right, there are two potential problems. Josh

417
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,160
Speaker 1: Hart happens to be shooting extremely well on open threes

418
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,159
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. He's twelve for twenty to be exact,

419
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,639
Speaker 1: that's sixty percent. He has been specifically torching teams by

420
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 1: popping and pick and roll, and he has torched the

421
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,800
Speaker 1: Pacers this year twenty two points per game, despite shooting

422
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: just seventeen percent from three in those three games. How

423
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,000
Speaker 1: offensive rebounding, he gets two point three offensive rebounds per

424
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,760
Speaker 1: game against the Pacers two point one in the playoffs

425
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 1: last year. That two point three numbers from the regular

426
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,040
Speaker 1: season this year. Driving closeouts as well, that patent did

427
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,359
Speaker 1: transition push rae'l just get his shoulder into your body

428
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,440
Speaker 1: and finish at the rim. But this matchup is different.

429
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,159
Speaker 1: As we mentioned in popping against Porzingis Haliburton has been

430
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,080
Speaker 1: very good in this playoff runt at hedging and recovering

431
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,160
Speaker 1: hands up where like as he throws the hedge over

432
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,639
Speaker 1: a year, he gets out with his hands up to

433
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,639
Speaker 1: force you to throw the pass over the top of

434
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 1: his hands. It gives him longer time to recover and

435
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,119
Speaker 1: then he just needs to get a hand up. And similarly,

436
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 1: Josh Hart has dropped in this postseason from sixty percent

437
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: to thirty one percent on catch and shoot jump shots

438
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 1: when he's just contested. I'm less worried about the shooting

439
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,639
Speaker 1: with Josh Hart and the Haliburton matchup than just the

440
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 1: athletic Force. And we talked about this earlier with Aaron Nesmith.

441
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 1: If he would have ended up being guarded by Brunson,

442
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:17,679
Speaker 1: he could have done a ton of damage with that

443
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,159
Speaker 1: sort of thing. Josh Hart could do a lot of

444
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 1: damage to Tyrese Haliburton in this series on the glass,

445
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 1: attacking downhill, off of closeouts and in transition. So let's

446
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,880
Speaker 1: keep an eye on that. Miles Turner on Kat as

447
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,280
Speaker 1: aforementioned the funner version of this matchup, where Turner's a

448
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,680
Speaker 1: better defender and Kat's a better offensive player. Kat porched

449
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,600
Speaker 1: the Pacers this year thirty points and twelve assists per game,

450
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,880
Speaker 1: fifty seven percent from the field, forty seven percent from

451
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: three to eighty nine percent from the foul line. He

452
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 1: did a lot of damage as a shooter, picking and

453
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: popping trailing threes in transition just spacing the floor on

454
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 1: the weak side. But he did also do a lot

455
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 1: of damage just going one on one at Miles Turner

456
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 1: and Thomas Bryant. He had one of his best dunks

457
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: this year driving out of the left orner against Thomas Bryant.

458
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,159
Speaker 1: He's able to draw multiple fouls on Miles Turner by

459
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 1: either beating him cleanly off the dribble or by like

460
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,119
Speaker 1: faking and dislodging him and then getting like stepping through

461
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: to draw some contact. As a group, the Pacers will

462
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: need to be much better. Turner's got to be better

463
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 1: on an island, and they've got to rotate better to

464
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:19,719
Speaker 1: make sure that he doesn't get the types of quality

465
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,159
Speaker 1: threes that he was getting in all of the Knicks

466
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: actions during the regular season. In many ways, Cat is

467
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 1: the key to the series on both ends of the floor.

468
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: He was the guy who killed the Pacers defense all season.

469
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,800
Speaker 1: He was also the guy who will be their breaking

470
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,440
Speaker 1: point when the Pacers are trying to score. He could

471
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,880
Speaker 1: be the thing that drives success and failure on either end,

472
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 1: so how well he performs will be a big swing

473
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 1: factor in this series. Keys for the Pacers ball pressure

474
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 1: to wear and tear the knicks down in hopes of

475
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 1: having that fatigue benefit them later in the series. Sharp

476
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 1: close outs again Josh Hart, Ojan and Obi and mckel

477
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 1: bridges all plummet as shooting when they're contested and then

478
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,880
Speaker 1: rotating to towns to prevent him from getting those clean

479
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: three point shot looks. The benches between these two teams

480
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,120
Speaker 1: are very different. All five Nick starters play over thirty

481
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 1: five minutes per game in the postseason. McHale and Og

482
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 1: average over forty minutes per game. There is not a

483
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: single pacer who has averaged over thirty five minutes per

484
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,960
Speaker 1: game in this postseason. They have a lot of weapons. TJ.

485
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,320
Speaker 1: McConnell's one of the best backup guards in basketball. Relentless

486
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 1: downhill attack, beats people off the dribble cleanly more than

487
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: you'll then you'll see most backup guards in the league,

488
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,680
Speaker 1: with a lot of short range scoring, excellent passing per

489
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,200
Speaker 1: thirty six minutes in this postseason run nineteen point seven

490
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 1: rebounds in tennisis on fifty five percent true shooting. Ben

491
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 1: Mathern has actually been their most their highest scoring rate

492
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 1: player per thirty six minutes, He's scoring twenty three points

493
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 1: per game on fifty eight percent true shooting. That's higher

494
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,679
Speaker 1: than anyone else on the Pacers right now. It's a

495
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: lot of downhill athleticism, a lot of drawing fouls, getting

496
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: into the pain using his physical tools. Obie toppens a

497
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,879
Speaker 1: great fit in the system as an athletic transition player

498
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:07,960
Speaker 1: and as a cutter, provides some of that weak side

499
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: scoring forward work that we always talk about. Ben Sheppard

500
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,679
Speaker 1: will get some three and D minutes, Thomas Bryant will

501
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 1: play center with Miles Turners off. They're super deep for

502
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: the Knicks. The only two guys who really play a

503
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,879
Speaker 1: substantial role for them off the bench Areduce McBride, who's

504
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 1: not shooting super well inside the arc, but is shooting

505
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,639
Speaker 1: forty percent from three in the playoffs. I think he's

506
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 1: a good player. And then Mitchell Robinson, who as a

507
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,120
Speaker 1: bench big and as a two guy who will play

508
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,360
Speaker 1: like two big looks alongside Kat just a dominant defender

509
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,679
Speaker 1: and rebounder on both ends of the flour. Obviously, no

510
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,679
Speaker 1: question here that overall depth favors Indiana, in that bench

511
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: scoring favors Indiana. My prediction, as I mentioned earlier, I

512
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,480
Speaker 1: view this series as roughly a coin flip. I think

513
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 1: the Pacers are slightly better, but I think the Knicks

514
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: have home court advantage and that matters. Although it's worth

515
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,479
Speaker 1: mentioning at least before we move on, the Pacers and

516
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 1: the Knicks have both been excellent on the road in

517
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 1: these playoffs. The Knicks are five and one on the

518
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 1: road and the Pacers are four and one. What actually

519
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,399
Speaker 1: solidified my pick was Game one of the Bucks series

520
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 1: in Game one of the Cavs series, two games that

521
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,960
Speaker 1: the Pacers took double digit leads in the first quarter.

522
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: The first one you could explain away by just saying

523
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,880
Speaker 1: it's the Bucks. They were a mediocre team whatever, right,

524
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 1: The Calves are not even without Darius Garland. They're not bad.

525
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: They won sixty four games this year. They just looked

526
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: completely caught off guard by Indiana's offense. Cut to shreds

527
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: to start that game, leaving constant easy openings. The Pacers

528
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 1: were relentless attacking them. They got punched in the face

529
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: in that way. It reminded me of the Warriors in

530
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 1: their heyday. They played just such a different style that

531
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 1: most teams. There's an adjustment period, a period where you

532
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,520
Speaker 1: could drop a game or two before you even really

533
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 1: find your bearings and kind of figure out how you're

534
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 1: supposed to guard this team. So I think the Pacers

535
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: a high risk to steal Game one. Would that be

536
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 1: in the case, I think they'd win Game three and

537
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,199
Speaker 1: four at home and then close the series off in six.

538
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,439
Speaker 1: I think they catch the Knicks off guard, punch him

539
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: in the mouth, and then the Knicks are constantly trying

540
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 1: to make up ground throughout the series, but then they

541
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 1: lose home court and then wear and tear plays a

542
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: role towards the tail end of the series because of

543
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,199
Speaker 1: the Pacers depth. I think that's how the Pacers end

544
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,399
Speaker 1: up getting this thing done in six games. But this

545
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: is gonna be incredible, and I absolutely think the Knicks

546
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: can win. Predictions don't mean I think the other team sucks.

547
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,359
Speaker 1: It just means I think it's less likely. As always,

548
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 1: there's a way for the Knicks to win this series.

549
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: Here's what I think it would look like. It starts

550
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:41,560
Speaker 1: with McHale Bridges doing a great job on Tyre's Halliburton,

551
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 1: playing him into some of those passive stretches that we

552
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 1: talked about from the Cavs series. It extends to mkale

553
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,919
Speaker 1: Og and Josh shooting better on spot up threes than

554
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 1: Indie's role players, and it ends with close games where

555
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson out plays Tyre's Haliburton down the stretch and

556
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 1: swings the series towards New York. It absolutely can happen.

557
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: I just think the Pacers are a slightly better team

558
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: that are slightly more likely to get the job done.

559
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 1: All right, guys, As always, I appreciate you guys for

560
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:12,919
Speaker 1: supporting the show. That is all we have for today.

561
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,199
Speaker 1: We will be going with Colin after the game. We

562
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 1: will have our live show about an hour after I

563
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,439
Speaker 1: finish after the game finishes, so I can finish recording

564
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: with Colin first. Just keep put, Just pay attention to

565
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: my Twitter feed and I'll tweet out the link when

566
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 1: we actually go live, but play on about That'll be

567
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 1: around that like four pm hour Pacific standard time when

568
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: we end up going live, and then we'll have our

569
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,960
Speaker 1: usual playback at that point. Again, I appreciate you guys,

570
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,640
Speaker 1: and I will see you next time. What's up guys.

571
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting

572
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 1: OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful for us

573
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,000
Speaker 1: if you guys would take a second and leave a

574
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 1: rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys

575
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: supporting us, but if you could take a minute to

576
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume