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Knicks aim to tie up series Tuesday in Indiana
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 5/14/2013  at  5:55:00 AM
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NEW YORK KNICKS

at INDIANA PACERS

Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 4 - Indiana leads series 2-1
Tip-off: Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Indiana -5.5, Total: 179.5

The Pacers look to go up 3-1 in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series as they host the Knicks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Tuesday in Game 4.

Indiana got back to its defensive identity in Game 3, holding the Knicks to just 71 points on 35% FG in an 82-71 victory to give the club a 2-1 series advantage. So far in the series, the Pacers have done an excellent job on the league's scoring champion, Carmelo Anthony, contesting all of his shots and holding him to just 41% FG in the series. Indiana is now 4-1 (SU and ATS) in the month of May and is 5-2 SU (4-3 ATS) when hosting New York in the past three seasons. It’s no surprise that the Pacers have been able to handle the Knicks, who live and die by the three-ball and Indiana was 11-3 ATS (79%) in home games versus good long-range shooting teams (36%+ threes) this season. Pacers C Roy Hibbert was too much for New York in Game 3, playing 40 minutes and scoring 24 points with 12 rebounds.

Can the Knicks get back in the series with a big road win on Tuesday? For the answer, connect to NBA Playoffs Best Bets for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2013 postseason. The experts are a collective 55% ATS (35-29) overall in NBA Playoff picks since May 4 with StatFox Brian at 63% ATS (10-6) and StatFox Gary at 56.3% ATS (9-7) during this stretch. StatFox Dave is 65% ATS (13-7) since May 3 and 71.4% ATS (5-2) since May 9. In terms of Best Bets, Gary is 70% ATS (7-3) in Best Bets for the month of May and 54.2% ATS (13-11) for the entire playoffs, while Brian is 64.3% ATS (9-5) since April 29 and 55.2% ATS (16-13) for the entire playoffs. For NBA Totals, the experts have a combined 57% NBA Totals success rate (41-31-4) in the playoffs. Scott is a perfect 7-0 in Totals since May 6 to increase his postseason mark to 63.2% (12-7-2), and Brian is 75% (3-1) in Totals since May 8. Gary is 63% (15-9-1) on playoff Totals for the whole postseason, while Dave is 57.1% (4-3).

The Knicks played one of their worst offensive games of the season in Game 3, scoring 20 points or less in each quarter, making just 3-of-11 threes (27%), and producing more turnovers (14) than assists (11). SF Carmelo Anthony led the team in scoring with 21 points (6-of-16 FG, 8-of-11 FT), but committed four turnovers, five fouls and had a minus-16 rating. SG J.R. Smith again had a miserable shooting performance as he played 25 minutes and scored just nine points on 4-of-12 FG (0-of-3 threes). For the series, Smith has 11.3 PPG on 26% FG (3-of-16 threes), a far cry from what he did in the first round against Boston (15.2 PPG on 38% FG). PF Amar’e Stoudemire returned for New York in Game 4 and he played rather well in his limited time in the game. In just nine minutes, he scored seven points (3-of-8 FG, 1-of-1 threes) while also grabbing two rebounds. Stoudemire has a minute limit of 15 in the playoffs this year, so the Knicks aren’t expecting too much out of the former All-Star. But what the team really needs is PG Raymond Felton to find his stroke after a dismal 1-for-8 shooting clip in Game 3. Felton has also done a poor job running the offense in the past two games, totaling five assists and four turnovers.

The Pacers dominated from the opening tip in Game 3, thanks in large part to C Roy Hibbert. The 7-foot-2 beast was doing whatever he wanted in the post, hitting hook shot after hook shot while making Knicks C Tyson Chandler throw fits. Hibbert finished the game with 24 points (9-of-18 FG), 12 boards (eight offensive) and a +20 rating. PG George Hill also had a strong effort for the Pacers, finishing with 17 points (5-of-12 threes), six rebounds and a +14 rating in the game. SF Paul George struggled to find his shot (4-of-17 FG, 2-of-12 threes), but he still wound up with a near triple-double of 14 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and an impressive five steals on the defensive end. PF David West pitched in a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards (five offensive). The Pacers will need to keep up the effort on the defensive side of the ball if they are going to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.


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