Any of the residual gratification felt by the New York Knicks and their fans was quickly erased Sunday when the Indiana Pacers came into Madison Square Garden and manhandled the Knicks to take away home court advantage.
Indiana’s top-ranked defense protected both the rim (eight blocks, five by Roy Hibbert) and the arc (the Knicks made just seven 3-pointers, one less than the Pacers) as they led for the entire second half and took away many of New York’s secondary weapons.
Carmelo Anthony is going to need some help from J.R. Smith. Or Tyson Chandler. Or Jason Kidd. Or even Amar’e Stoudemire, who is expected to return at some point during the series.
In this video with Cinesport’s Noah Coslov, I discuss some of the issues facing the Knicks, as well as the so-called controversy surrounding the lone first-place MVP vote received by Anthony.
I also take a look at who may be in line for some of the current coaching vacancies. The two biggest names out there are Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, but both have their own reasons why they may not want to return to the sidelines, leaving open jobs for the best assistant no one knows.
Click on the box to give a listen.
every single “expert” including mr sheridan picked the Knicks. WHy I dont know. I dont think anyone who knows hoop really thought the Knicks would keep up. They barely beat a very weak celtic team. The east is weak except for miami……but indiana is as close to a threat as you’re going to find. Hibbert’s game portends well for the pacers. He often disappears in big games, so it was good to see him step up big on defense. Indiana in six, maybe five.