Stylistically, the Knicks and the Pacers represent almost polar opposites. And the basketball brand Pacers has been wearing teams for months.
They are one of the fastest teams in the league, constantly seeking to push the ball into transition. Defensively, they often collect adversaries in its own right.
After eliminating the seeded n ° 1 riders in five games in the last round, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson admitted that he had “crazy respect” for the way the Pacers play and how many problems it gave him the team.
“It’s like a university team, I say it in a very good way,” said Atkinson. “They support for 48 minutes and they run faster than anyone in the league. … And on their credit, they recruited this style of play. They surrounded their best player with it.”
In the regular season, the Pacers had an average of 100.8 possessions per 48 minutes (the most seventh in the NBA). The Knicks were on average 97.08 (fourth less). In playoffs, the pacers are on average 99.3, while the Knicks are 95.3.
Tyrese Haliburton thrives in transition with his ability to go to the edge and find teammates open to quick breaks.
“We have to try to be physical, go to the ball, get them out of the rhythm and finally communicate so that they do not have open blows,” said Josh Hart, who is often the one who pushes the Knicks to play faster, said after training on Monday. “It will be a huge defensive series for us. I think we are capable of it.
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“We communicate to a higher level. I think the last two games in the Boston series without (Jayson) Tatum, they moved the ball a little faster, they worked faster. It forced us to communicate at a high level. I think this is something that can help us enter this series with Indiana. ”
Pacers are able to maintain this relentless energy using a deep bench.
Coach Rick Carlisle plays a rotation of nine and 10 men, and no one has an average of 34.1 minutes of Haliburton per game in the playoffs.
Each start of the Knicks has on average on average, and coach Tom Thibodeau has reduced his rotation to seven players most of the nights.
“I think you look at your team’s strengths and build your system around this,” said Thibodeau on Monday. “Haliburton has certain strengths. I think if you neglect the type of player that (Andrew) Nembhard is, you make a mistake. And then, you build your system around this.
If the Knicks cannot counter this system and this unique character, Thibodeau will eventually resemble Atkinson at the end of the series.
