Eastern Conference Playoffs Second Round
Game 3 - Series tied 1-1
Tip-off: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Indiana -4, Total: 183

After stealing Game 1 in New York, the Pacers head back to Indiana on Saturday to take on the Knicks in a 1-1 series.

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. The series is now tied at 1-1 both SU and ATS. 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. New York was a solid road team ATS, going 21-19-1 in the regular season. Towards the end of Game 2, Raymond Felton tweaked his ankle. Felton was waving off head coach Mike Woodson when he tried to make a substitution for him, but he ended up coming out. Felton said that he should be ready to go in Game 3. Amar’e Stoudemire is also expected to play for New York after missing the past couple of months after a procedure on his knee.

Which team will prevail in Game 3? For the answer, connect to NBA Playoffs Best Bets for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2013 postseason. The experts are a collective 57% ATS (25-19) overall in NBA Playoff picks since May 4 with StatFox Gary at 64% ATS (7-4) and StatFox Brian at 55% ATS (6-5) during this stretch. StatFox Dave and StatFox Scott are both 67% ATS (4-2) since May 7. In terms of Best Bets, Gary is 63% ATS (5-3) in May, Brian is 60% ATS (6-4) since April 29 and Scott is 60% ATS (3-2) since May 5. For NBA Totals, the experts have a combined 54% NBA Totals success rate (34-29-4) in the playoffs. Gary is 62% (13-8-1) on playoff Totals, while Dave is 57.1% (4-3), and Scott is a perfect 4-0 in Totals over the past four nights to increase his postseason mark to 56.3% (9-7-2).

The New York Knicks came out in Game 2 with a lot of heart after being called out for a miserable Game 1 effort. Carmelo Anthony played his best game of the playoffs so far, scoring 22 points in the second half for the Knicks, who desperately need him. Anthony finished the game with 32 points (13-of-26 FG, 2-of-5 3PT), nine rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes. The Knicks second best player in the game was Iman Shumpert. Shumpert provide the Knicks with a ton of energy and ended with 15 points (7-of-11 FG), six rebounds, three assists and a steal in 29 minutes. Raymond Felton continued his hot playoff shooting with 14 points (5-of-9 FG, 2-of-2 3PT) in 27 minutes. One concern for New York has been the play of J.R. Smith. After a miserable performance in Game 1, J.R. was even worse in Game 2 as he finished with just eight points (3-of-15 FG) in 30 minutes.

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.