ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: The Pacers Aren’t That Much Better Than the Knicks | The Rich Eisen Show

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: The Pacers Aren’t That Much Better Than the Knicks | The Rich Eisen Show

So, what’s your sense of uh the uh Pacers Knicks series and why it is currently three games to one, Brian? Well, it’s three to one because the Knicks allowed the Pacers to take game one for from them. You know, I don’t want to necessarily just say they blew it um because the Pacers were and are a great team. Um but, you know, you can survive a game where Tyrese Hallebertton is awesome or or whoever you’re playing, you can survive a game if you don’t hand one away in in a series that’s close. You just can’t. I mean, know this is sort of obvious analysis. You know, in a series that’s tight, you can’t hand a game away. And if and if the Knicks had won game one, which they should have, um, this is 2-2 and the Knicks are going home with homecourt advantage and they’re in a much better position. And if this feels like you’ve heard this before, I was saying this exact same thing to Cavs fans the last round because the Cavs totally botched slash let the Pacers steal game two in that series from them. And then when they got their uh you know their noses smashed in game four in Indiana, they went home down 3-1 like the Knicks are instead of it being 2-2, which it should be. The difference between these two teams is not that great. There’s some some issues that the Knicks are facing, having difficulty overcoming, but this is not a wide gap. And so that’s why, you know, if you’re a Knicks fan, you’re probably pretty frustrated. And if you’re a Pacers fan, you’re feeling pretty proud. Brian Winhor here on the Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience has just rejoined us. So, what what are the Pacers doing that have caused the Knicks Fitz and Tom Tibido to stare at the ceiling over the next night to try and save his season? Brian, they’re playing so fast, Rich. They’re playing so fast. This is what they do. This is their way they’re designed. They’re designed to wear you out over the course of a game, over the course of a series. Um, you know, there was that, if you watched the game last night, there was this huddle in the second half. I’m pretty sure my memor memory serves where they they’re playing the audio of Tibs. And I mean it could I’m not sure how previous it was to the actual when they played it because sometimes they have to okay that stuff. So um but Tibs is is really challenging his players to to he’s like sprint run back get back run with them. And you look at male Bridges and he’s he’s panting and Carl Towns is like you know towing off you know like they’re tired. Um and that’s what they do. They’re running number one. Number two, they’re attacking Brunson and Tarl Towns in on defense. And like I don’t want to make it seem like this is a revolutionary concept. Every team goes after those guys. And by by the way, they win many games because Brunson and Towns are awesome offensively and they crush. And it’s a it’s a proposition that the Knicks are ready to sign up for and they both made all NBA. I do not want to make this sound like the Pacers just unearthed this concept, but against the Pacers, the Knicks are having problems handling it. Uh they’re having trouble overcoming that side. You know, in last night’s game when Hy Allebertton had the ball 25 times they they set a screen to get to to take advantage to get Brunson on him 25 times. And a lot of those times Brunson didn’t even get in position. Palbertton just ran right past him. And so you’re wondering, well, how is Hallebertton kicking the ball to these wide open shooters? You say, why are these guys wide open? They’re wide open because the guys are running to the to the to the rim to try to get in Hallebertton’s way because he’s zoomed past Brunson uh on a switch or on a pick and roll. And again, I am not this is not an insult to Jaylen. This is not, you know, but this is what they’re attacking. So in this series when Carl Towns and Jaylen Brunson are on the court together, the Knicks have been outscored by 24 points. A two-man lineup is not does not make or break a team. There’s there’s other lineups where I could find where it’s very positive, but your two best players are getting, you know, and last night it was only minus four, Rich. It wasn’t like it was a glaring hole, but they didn’t lose by 30 last night. They lost by nine. They gave up 130 points and Hallebertton was awesome. But the margins against the Pacers are very thin. And you know, you’re basically in a situation where Hallebertton’s scoring 32, generating 38 more points off assists. That’s awesome. And Brunson’s scoring 31 and generating I don’t know what his number. He’s generating something less than that off assist. So you there’s your difference right there. And it’s hard. It’s hard. It’s hard to play the Pacers. It’s they’re a really good team. So how do the Knicks win three in a row? Well, first off, they’ve got to do better at the point of attack. just you know I you don’t you don’t don’t watch the film just trust me Hallebertton is getting right past the screen and into attack mode like that super duper fast absolutely not acceptable so they just got to do a better job of that they don’t have to shut him down you’re not holding him to three points um they need to do a better job point attack the second thing they need to do and I know this sounds like basic stuff your eighth grade CIO coach would tell you don’t turn the ball over you know the the the the turnovers are crushing. Uh it’s like, you know, lifeblood to the Pacers. You know, Josh Hart had five turnovers last night, for example. You just can’t afford a non ball handle like Josh Hart to have five turnovers. Don’t turn the ball over. Turn keep the turnovers down, fight a little bit more on defense, and all of a sudden the margins look a lot different. Uh and again, Rich, if they take care of game one, it’s 2-2. This is not some 3 0 series where where it’s been outscored by 75 points. The margin is not that great. The Knicks can overcome it. The Knicks can win game five and they can get it back to Indiana, but they’re going to have to clean it up. They’re Their their margin for error is very thin. Catch the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from 12 to 3:00 p.m.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Rich Eisen break down Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers 3-1 series lead over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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