The New York Knicks had to deal with a lot of media criticism after a poor effort in Game 1 against the Pacers, but they responded with an impressive victory in Game 2. New York outscored Indiana by 20 points in the fourth quarter, going on to win the game 105-79. Anthony might be getting some more help in the form of Amar’e Stoudemire, who has been out since March 7 following knee debridement surgery, and is expected to play 10-15 minutes in Game 3. Stoudemire gives the Knicks another big body to bang around with Roy Hibbert and David West on the inside. Anthony scored 16 of his 32 points during the decisive run in Game 2 as New York reached 100 points in a postseason game for the first time since 1999 with the 105-79 triumph. Anthony’s shooting was key, but coach Mike Woodson was quick to highlight the defensive effort. “The fourth quarter, we just defensively, we picked up,” he said. “We kept getting stop after stop and then we would rebound the ball and get it up and our offense began to flow like old times. It was kind of nice to see.” The scene was much different from Game 1, when the Knicks were outworked on the inside and outscored 59-38 in the middle two quarters.
The Indiana Pacers have had three days to get over the mental hurdle of Game 2’s breakdown. The Pacers dominated the Atlanta Hawks in Indiana during the first round and had no problem bouncing back from some tough losses in that series. The Knicks are winless in their last three games in Indiana, who were 22-19 ATS when playing at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the regular season. After stealing Game 1 in New York, the Pacers got away from the game that won it for them. Indiana allowed the Knicks to play at a fast pace and it really hurt the Pacers, who are an interior based team. Paul George was one of the only noticeable players for Frank Vogel’s team, as he finished the game with 20 points (8-of-16 FG). George did, however, turn the ball over seven times. Indiana as a team turned the ball over 21 times, which is something that can not be done in the playoffs. David West was the Pacers second leading scorer and he only had 13 points (4-of-7 FG) in the game. The Pacers starting five has been playing big minutes in this series and they have gotten little production from their bench.
Pick: I like the Pacers in this game. I know that Stoudamire is back for the Knicks but this team may be better without him and he will only play 10 to 15 minutes anyway. Indiana really played at home vs the Hawks in the playoffs, winning each game by at least 15 points and they are 2-0 on this floor vs the Knicks this year, winning the two games by 5 and 34 points. the Knicks controlled the pace in game two and it got Indiana out of their game plan. The Pacers don't let teams dictate the pace on this floor and I feel they will get back to a grind it out, pound the ball inside kinda game and behind their defense that allows just 89.9 ppg at home they should walk away with a win of at least 7 points.
