Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 228. (Read 921745 times)

Yes, it quite a surprised, but looking that they are the number 1 in the West, then I guess we should be shock to see them winning against the number 5th seed in which they only have 2 superstars in Kyrie and Luka why the OKC team is built around their MVP, SGA. And as I check the record, then ended the regular season with 5th straight wins. And then sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans 4-0, that makes them 9-0 so far. So I do agree that they wanted to show specially those who write them off and saying that they are lucky to get the top seed. So we will see what kind of adjustments, specially the defense of the Mavs against the Clippers are superb, that is what area that they need to improved if they want to beat the streaking OKC team.

Pacers won't limit him, they don't prioritize defense.  They just hope to outpace and outscore the other team.  Problem is now OG anunoby is out now.  Knicks without randle, OG, bogdanovich, mitch rovinson.  They are stretching theor bench and players like Charlie brown, yeah Charlie brown might have to play.  Brunson can only do so much.  No guard wants to see brunson on the other side right now.  Dude is getting whatever he wants.

Better that way if Brunson will be the team leader as they are more effective. Let him handle the ball and make the right decision as he makes everyone play their best. Though he had a lot of attempts but if you look at his stats, his FG% are very impressive for a player who takes a lot of shot, Kobe wasn't even above 40% during his prime IIRC, Brunson here does really know his spots.

BTW, 61% FG percentage in game 2, pretty impressive, and in game 1, he was 53%.

Pacers better find a way to minimize the production of Brunson.

Brunson is really showing phenomenal results this playoffs, and it looks like this guy is in his prime right now. But why do you think Randle won't be back with the Knicks? He has at least one more season on his contract with the Knicks, and it seems to me that he can adapt to the new conditions, i.e., when Brunson is the team leader.

The problem with Mavs in game 1 is their 3 point shooting is very bad, compared to the 3 point shooting of the OKC. If the Mavs will improve their 3 point shooting in game 2, then it's possible that they will be able to even the series.

What I saw in the game is that, they double Luka and Irving, so they need to pass the ball and there are lots of time that the shooter is open but could not make a shot ,that's something they really need to improve, provided the OKC will use the same strategy in game 2.

This is also what I'm thinking, even though we think that Luka and Kyrie will go back in this series, we can't deny that they are the number 1 team in the East and they have proven that it's no fluke in this second round against the more experience Luka. And SGA second in MVP voting? That could boost his confidence as well.

I agree, but they need someone to step up to be their 3 or 4 scorer, they need a spark from the bench to help them get over when the OKC are taking over the 3rd quarter and just cruising in the 4th. So we will see if there are adjustments made on their part or OKC is really that good and want to proved that they can advance with SGA leading them. And I'm seeing the fans chanting his name again as their MVP.

They are going back in their homecourt so for sure they are going to show toughness as they don't want a possible sweep. But at this point, they have given so much momentum on the Knicks as they have the confidence of winning the series.

Yeah, it was Brunson who lead the team as Julius Randle is out already and who knows he might not be back in New York uniform because the team now looks solid in both offense and defense and working very hard as a team. Because when Randle is playing its more on isolation on him and then outside 3 point shot.

That's what I also saw, Brunson although he is the main man of the team but he trust his teammates, that's why they are successful. The pacers are good as well they are trusting each other but they lack the hunger the Knicks has because if we review the highlights, you can see how the knicks played hard, they dive just to get the ball, so they really deserve that big win.



I'm seeing the series to be an interesting one, with that, I expect that the Pacers will be able to even the series by winning the two games on their homecourt. I think the Pacers are really good at home, as just like their series with the Bucks, they win all the home games, so I expect that it will happen with the Knicks.

Brunson is not the only player doing very well for Knicks. It’s always a team effort that makes them win as you can see on the stats board. Knicks will never beat Pacers twice in a row if they will show same performance in the first round which Brunson do most of the scoring.


Knicks are doing this already. All of them is taking the and not only Brunson. I believe Brunson only step up when they are facing an opponent that focus on isolation which is not the case with Pacers since Haliburton is a great playmaker. Let’s see if they can keep up when the home court changed.

Honestly how many games let alone playoff games does Devin Booker, lillard, etc win with a starting lineup of:

OG
Josh hart
Divo
Isiah hartenstein

Bench of deuce mcbride amd previous achuiwa

Dude is 4th in the league in scoring, second in points in the paint behind jokic and dude is 6'1, 1st in the playoffs.  Leads all playoff scorers in 4th quarter points, clutch points.  Left hurt for a quarter and a half last night comes back to drop 24 in the second half, dropped 21 points in the fourth alone in the first game.  Hate all you want but you might want to catch up.

I'd be interested in your take on what a star player is because if that's just an average dude in the NBA I'm missing something.

He needs to see that, as Brunson will keep attacking them and without a good role player to play tight defense for sure Brunson will always take that shots, it's more on the adjustment side as they see how tough the NYK, they need to play together not just for the offense but more on their defense, playing at home might give them good inspiration to win a game, or better to tie it up and make it a raise to 3 games do-or-die series finals. Let see how Rick Carlisle will adjust to avoid a possible sweep.

I do agree, the second unit did it for the Pacers to get a good lead and McConnell is somewhat elated with his role and very animated as him and Brunson started to trash talk meaning the game very interesting.

But in the 4th quarter he did take him out and so the coach made another bad call here as he could let McConnell stay for a few minutes more and see how it goes for him. And you can see the frustrations in his face when he is in the bench and maybe thinking why the Carlisle take him out when he is doing good offensively and defensively.

I think Rick Carlisle will going to have the same mistake he made when he was still coaching the Dallas Mavericks giving Jalen Brunson a very limited minutes hindering Jalen's full potential. Now, look at how Jalen were performing against his former coach and all throughout this whole playoffs run.
McConnell already made his impact to the team, yet it looks like It wasn't enough for Rick again. I remember Matthew Dellavedova with the Cavs before who made a good defensive impact, though he's guarding unstoppable PGs like Steph Curry, but he sure gave them a hard time when he was defending. I think McConnell will be the Pacers' X-factor.

Speaking of McConnell , I think it was a bad decision by the coach to not let him play in the 4th. He had a good game defending Brunson and he is making shots  that's why the Pacers were able to come back when the Knicks had their rally. I think it's safe to say that Brunson is unstoppable, but the Pacers have to put players that are really contributing to the game in both offensive and defensive end, and McConnell is one of them.

Game 3 will be at Indiana, it's a must win for the home team or else their series chance is at risk.

They don't have Randle, Robinson and OG in Game 3, but they still have Achiuwa, Hartenstein and McBride to at least help the team.
Hartenstein played his best game in this playoffs because he almost got a triple-double with 14-12-8. I mean who will thought that he will get 8 assists. It's like when McConnell carried the Pacers in their game against the Bucks where he's the main guy on their team at that moment.

Coach Thibs has 2 options coming into Game 3. He will put Hartenstein in the center which will be the case for most of the game, or he will play small ball with Achiuwa and Mcbride. I like how the Knicks are playing, but I don't like how Coach Thibs use his players. Just look at this. In the whole playoffs, Josh Hart only rested for 3 minutes and played the rest of the games. Both him and DiVincenzo played for more than 40+ minutes in the first 2 games against the Pacers. This kind of play isn't good for the player in the long run. Playing the whole game? I mean you have many players in your roster, and you don't have the balls to let them in just to give him a rest.

Anyway, I just hope that Coach Thibs will use his other players now that OG is out because of an injury. He mostly is using an 8-man rotation, and with OG out, he will be forced to use his other players in the next 2 games probably. Overall, 2 wins for the Knicks, 2 more to go.

That's going to be big in the game 3 as they lost a lot of bigs, they don't have Randle, Robinson, and now OG. I should take the opportunity to back the Pacers in winning the series as they have a great odds now, and I like that they are back at home in game 3 as I believe tehy played really well in at home. And that game aslo, I thought Brunson got really injured, it would have big for the Knicks if he was, but good thing he came back and Knicks were able to surive.

LOL. He’s going to have to do more to reach star status.

Congrats to Jokic winning another MVP. Almost seems dumb at this point they keep giving them to him. I think Doncic did enough to earn an MVP this season and Shaq said to Jokic that he thought SGA was more deserving of the MVP…

People need to put respect on JB's name. 

It would be bad for the fanbase if they have to suspend key players at crucial games. The NBA management would be getting lots of hate because they handicapped a team by suspending a player that is primarily a huge contributor or has a huge impact at the teams performance.

Wow! The Villanova trio did again. 74 combined points for Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Jalen Brunson. These dudes ain't big guys and yet they look like giants when they play the game. Chemistry is a difficult thing to defeat. They are enjoying the game playing with each other and they are unselfish.

The Pacers had a good lead of 12 points until the Knicks took over and made a 14-4 run and then took the lead. Offensive rebounds have a lot to do with this. Damn, the Pacers should teach Turner and Siakam to do some box out.

Worries for the Knicks: OG Anunoby. Left the game in the 4th quarter with a hamstring injury. He never went back. Will it take long before it heals or can he come back on Game 3? That will be a big loss for the Knicks considering most of the first quarter points today came from OG.